Lone Star
by Aahz the Chupacabra
Summary: Logan finds a woman in the Canadian Mountains. He takes her back to the institute with him. Everyone seems to like her, and accept her into their 'family' but there's a problem, Magneto wants her, and what Magneto wants, he gets. PLEASE READ! R&R!
1. A New Face

You are my Sunshine  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned the story, Logan would have had a girl a loooong time ago.  
  
A/N: Ok lets get a few things straight the character in my story is NOT THE Polaris, from the comics. The one in this story IS MINE, I could not find a good name for her that went with her powers, but I stumbled across Polaris while looking for one and I TOOK it. I repeat the character in my story is NOT THE Polaris from the comics.  
  
Chapter one, A new Face.  
  
Logan stalked through the winter forests of Canada's mountain ranges. He had just left the institute and taken the jet with him, as far as he was concerned it was high time he took a vacation anyway. If, that is, you call fighting off the searing pain that came with getting back one's long lost memories a vacation.  
  
As the pain reached a new high point he slumped down against the abrasive bark of a tall pine tree. Looking to the sky for answers, he found none, but as he looked up, he began to feel the soft, cool, snow drift onto his fevered face. He closed his eyes and relished the feeling. He tried not to think of anything. Not the memories, not the pain, the constant battles that always seemed to find him in his wanderings, he just tried to loose himself in bliss, which wasn't that hard after all.  
  
As he let himself drift, his already heightened sense took on new life. He could hear everything, the bark whining in the effort to support the new snow, the deer digging in a bank trying to get at a particularly tasty root, everything, even the sound of the snow being caught in his hair. He could also hear the argument going on between two people. In his half consciousness state he didn't feel inclined to investigate that is, until he found out who, one of the two people was.  
  
"I'm not doing his dirty work do you understand!" Growled a female voice.  
  
"You will do as he says!" Yelled back a male voice and that's when Logan realized who it was. He jumped up from his seat in the snow almost immediately, but with the rush back to consciousness he lost the voices. Stretching his heightened sense to their full, he found them. Racing due north towards the voices, passing the growing pines his booted feet crunching the snow; he finally found them, a moment later.  
  
"Sabertooth." He growled under his breath as he saw his mortally enemy, standing in the snow, arguing with a girl, no, a woman may twenty four, twenty five, he couldn't tell from this distance. She was tall, slim, almost serpentine, but with all those lovely curves that come from being twenty. She was only wearing a simple pair of jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket, her jet black hair whipped around her face as wind from the impending snow storm picked up, she must be freezing, he thought ideally.  
  
"Well you can run your little messenger boy carcass back to him, and tell him I'm not interested in his 'esteemed' offer. You got all that, or do I have to repeat it for you?" She whipped around and began stalking away from him, she slammed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, but Sabertooth's hand reached out and grabbed her arm at the elbow. The woman turned her head and stared at him levelly.  
  
"I'm no messenger boy, I'm only here for the delivery." Logan could see the muscles in his arm flex and he knew that Sabertooth was about to pick the woman up. He made a motion to run forward to help the woman but she talked first.  
  
"I suggest, that you let go of my arm, before I remove yours." Slowly she took out her left, free, arm from its pocket and held it up. And from under the sleeve, a metal strip zipped out of it, and morphed, the metal rippling like water as it turned into the shape of a large razor blade.  
  
Unfortunately the threat did not work on Sabertooth. He did let the woman's arm go, but he raised his hand and, blood spattered on the new fallen snow as he backhanded the woman across the face, his claws raking the soft flesh they found there. The force of the blow sent the woman reeling back, but the razor came down cutting Sabertooth across the arm, not taking it off as the threat had said but cutting it worse than he had her. The cut on her face was not deep, it wouldn't require stitches, nor any other medical attention, probably just a band-aid, the only thing it did was bleed.  
  
"You need to learn your place!" Sabertooth growled and began stalking forward to her. The woman picked herself up and raised her hand, the razor zoomed towards her and she deftly snatched it out of the air, switching grips, Logan could see that it had changed again it looked more like a pipe now. Yes, he could see the smooth handle she was now holding. "If Magneto says he wants you, Magneto will get you, whether you like it or not, Polaris."  
  
Polaris, so that was the woman's name, or at lest her mutant name, she began to speak again.  
  
"Listen Victor," She put an emphasis on the name practically spitting it out. "If your boss wants me so bad, he can come and get me himself!"  
  
That was it, Sabertooth had, had enough, he charged at Polaris, his worn trench coat billowing out behind him in a wave, he let loose a roar and took a swing at her. But Polaris had been expecting it, she jumped out of the way just in time, letting the bigger man's momentum get him off balance, her leg snapped up and she kicked him in the side. The force of the blow was strong enough that it would have sent a normal man careening into one of he the tall pine tree's that made up the circle grove the pair where standing in, but Sabertooth wasn't a normal man. All the kick did was send staggering back a step and then he was on her again, but more carefully this time. He took a practice swing at her, she jumped out of the way again, and her agility was more than enough for his brute force.  
  
As the fight was raging on, Logan watched from the trees, he new that it was an uneven fight, as much skill as he woman, Polaris, had he knew Sabertooth was better, stronger and faster, it was only a matter of time before the woman was worn down. Suddenly at the sound of a snarl that came from not Sabertooth but from the woman, his head snapped up to see what had happened.  
  
Sabertooth had jumped onto a tree directly behind her and pushed off diving straight at her. Polaris smacked the bar across the back of his neck as he dove past her, but his claws racked across his forearm as she did, opening four deep wounds and tearing open her jacket, then, she lost her grip on the bar and it dropped, to the snow.  
  
Sabertooth sneered and began slowly advancing on her, she backed up, clutching her now wounded right arm, trying to stop the bleeding. He growled, and stepped over the bar, which zipped up spun in a small circle, and tripped him. Sabertooth fell flat on his face in the snow.  
  
Polaris ran, trying to bypass him completely, she knew she could not win this fight, that her best bet was to once again run for it, but he reached out his hand and grabbed her ankle, she hit the ground hard on her right side, her right arm twisting underneath her, she gasped in pain and began to cough, racking, body shaking coughs, the spasm was over almost as soon as it began, but it gave Sabertooth enough time to get up.  
  
He looked like a mad man as he held the woman upside down, still holding her ankle, not that he wasn't. It was something about the look in his eyes. Polaris struggled and twisted, and finally got into the position she wanted, and kicked him square in his jaw.  
  
His head snapped back and he dropped her, and she was once more on the ground. But she scrabbled up and began to run; she thought her kick would have put him off more than it had, but she was wrong.  
  
Sabertooth stalked up behind her, cupping his fists together, he held them over his head-  
  
"Behind you!" Logan yelled stepping out from behind the trees. The warning came too late. Polaris looked up at him, her eyes widening with shock, and then anger, in that time Sabertooth brought down his fists on her back. She crumpled to the ground, blood seeping from the cuts in her arm, unconscious.  
  
"Wolverine!" Sabertooth sneered, "I didn't know you were in this neck of the woods."  
  
Logan stalked forward keeping an eye on the woman, he wasn't going to let Sabertooth have her. If Magneto wanted her so bad there must be a reason behind it. The professor would want to know about it. "Well maybe if you weren't so busy picking up dates, you would have notice."  
  
"Hey, this is business, maybe under different circumstances," He looked down at he woman lying in the snow. "Things would have been different, she's a fighter, I like that."  
  
"Well then it's about time you keep on looking, cause you aint getting this one." He edged closer to them, one hand went behind his back. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the keys to the jet. His fingers moving nimbly over some of the control buttons until the autopilot was set on 'Return'.  
  
"And what makes you say that?" Sabertooth growled.  
  
The wind suddenly picked up as the jet lowered itself into the circle grove. The snow caught in the wind provided a shield as Logan dashed forward and snatched up the woman, dashing for the jet's open cargo bay, he made it in. He ran for the controls and lifted off.  
  
Looking out the window, Logan could see Sabertooth yelling at them from the ground. He smiled to himself, as much as he hated running away from the fight, the woman looked like she was getting worse by the minute. He set the controls back to auto pilot and walked back to where he had hastily dropped her.  
  
She was curled up clutching her arm, as he approached her, she began to cough, worse than the spasm she had had during the fight. Her body jerked violently and she was pitched forward and back. He bent down and picked her up, surprised at how light she felt. He hadn't noticed when he had first picked her up; he had been in such a hurry.  
  
He walked over to a bench near the back of the jet and set her down on it. The coughing subsided, and he bent a little closer to look at her, her face was flushed with fever, he could tell she had been sick a long time, and a fight in the Canadian mountains didn't help her much, he put his hand on her forehead, she was burning up, he had to get back to the institute.  
  
That's when he noticed something else; there was a small trickle of blood coming out of he corner of her mouth. It wasn't there before she started coughing, he was sure of it. He would have noticed it during the fight. Then a small light came on in the back of his mind, he had herd some thing about this once, but he couldn't remember, it had something to do with elevation, and it did something the lungs, it came with pneumonia, and it more than often than not it killed.  
  
Speaking of bleeding he had to take care of the cuts she had gotten on her arm. Logan walked to a small cabinet on the right wall; there was a small first aid kit there. After getting the kit, he carefully took of her leather jacket, looking at the four deep cuts, he knew they'd need stitching, but for now all her could do was a light bandage to hopeful stop the bleeding.  
  
He took out the cotton cloth and held up her arm, he noticed how hot it was from the fever, she moaned a little as he applied some mild disinfectant, he could blame her, it probably burned like hell even is so was asleep. He quickly wrapped the cuts and tied a small knot in the strips.  
  
He pulled out a small cotton ball, and whipped some of the blood off of the cut on her face. He stared at her for a minute noticing for the first time how beautiful she was, then he remembered what Sabertooth had said, Maybe under different circumstances things would have been different, she's a fighter, I like that. He pushed that thought out of his head as soon as it had entered. He pulled out a band-aid and carefully laid it across the cut.  
  
"This is just temporary," He said mostly to himself, "When I get you back to the institute, the Doc'll fix you right up."  
  
He got up and began walking back to the pilot box, then he stopped, hesitated, and walked back, bending down he opened a small compartment in the floor. He pulled out a blanket, walked back over to her and covered her with it.  
  
He turned around and the mechanical door hissed as it closed behind him. He slumped down into the pilot seat and pulled out a communicator and called the professor.  
  
"Charles." He said into the communicator.  
  
"Yes Logan, I can hear you. What's the matter?"  
  
Trust the Doc to know what was wrong from a few hundred miles away. "I found a mutant, Sabertooth was with her, they had a fight, she's pretty banged up."  
  
"Ah, I see, get here as quick as you can I'll have Hank-"  
  
"That's not all," He cut him off, "I think she's sick, real sick, she's been coughing up blood a lot and she's really light, like she hasn't eaten in a while."  
  
"Oh dear, that's high altitude sicknesses, its really quite common, but deadly if you don't treat it soon."  
  
"Whadda I gotta do?"  
  
"An air mask should do the trick. It's caused by the body getting too high in elevation too quickly with out proper oxygen, if you said you found her fighting with Sabertooth, then she probably got it running."  
  
"Professor, she's been running a long time. I'm bringing her to the institute."  
  
"Yes, but-"  
  
Logan shut off the communicator. He could almost hear the Professor sigh the way he did when something didn't go the way he planned. He spun around in his seat. Alright, so the woman needed an oxygen mask, there where a couple of them in compartments over the benches, in case they went too high, always had to have a back up plan in this line of business.  
  
He was walking to the metal door that lead to the back, but all of a sudden there was a large dent, in the door, then another and another, then as suddenly as they started they stopped. Logan hastily punched the controls for the doors to open. It began to open but then it got stuck as the door reached the dents, it tried again banging, and banging, from inside the back room, Logan heard more coughs.  
  
He reached forward and tried to pry the door open, his arms straining, he grunted in the effort it took. Then the door broke, just like that, tossing the broken part of the door aside, he squeezed inside. Looking towards the back bench, he saw that the woman was not on it, on the contrary, she was lying in the middle of the floor coughing, one arm out stretched towards the door. The arm she was holding out was her bandaged arm; he could see it was bleeding through.  
  
He walked forward and bent down, she was still coughing but she looked up at him, her eyes where delirious and fevered, she looked positively crazy. She began to try and pull herself forward, wincing, she didn't do it herself though, she reached a hand forward, and just above it, the metal of the jets bottom, twisted, like an invisible hand was grasping it, and technically, it was. The metal moved up, and Polaris moved up with it, then she did it again, and again, in a futile effort to make it to the pilot box.  
  
Logan put a hand on her shoulder, trying to get her to stop, she was going to tear up the ship at this rate. She looked back at him, her fevered mad eyes glaring, if looks could kill, Logan would have dropped dead then and there.  
  
"Su afortunado, si estuviera en mis plenos poderes, le machacar!" She hissed at him, and then passed out on the floor.  
  
Logan filed away what she had just said in the back of his mind, he recognized it as Spanish, though he didn't know what it meant. She didn't look Mexican, he thought as he picked her up and moved back to the bench again. In her delusions she must have switched languages. That seemed possible; he pulled down an air mask from the overhead compartment and wrapped the cords around her ears so that it wouldn't fall off her face. He had always wondered how linguists kept their thoughts straight after they learned more than one language.  
  
He'd ask the professor and Hank if they knew Spanish one of them had to, and if not one of the kid's had to have taken at lest a year at their school, from what he'd herd when the kid's ate and complained about school it was required to have a second language to graduate.  
  
They where a good hour away from the institute by now, so he had time to kill, he propped his boots on the console and leaned back in his char, and relaxed. What had she said, he wondered, ah well didn't matter much, probably wasn't anything important. Still, it would bug him until he got to ask somebody. He tried to repeat what she said, and scowled, he'd have to work on his pronunciation. He didn't want to look like an idiot. And languages where temperamental, a mispronounced syllable could change the meaning entirely. He worked on the word's silently in his head for a while, then tried them out loud, satisfied at the result he said them a few more times, then went silent.  
  
What he didn't see was the woman in the back, she was awake for the time being, and staring at the ceiling, she herd the words for their true meaning: Your lucky, if I was at my full power, I'd crush you.  
  
She didn't remember that she had said them only a little while ago, all she knew was that she had gotten in a fight with Sabertooth and lost, the last thing she saw before she passed out was the man in the cockpit.  
  
She was sure she was on her way right now to Magneto, and that he would kill her. But right now she was too sick to move, it felt like she was going to be sick any minute now, her inside felt like lead, and they felt just as heavy as it.  
  
She was scared there was no use hiding it. No, scared didn't even define it. She was terrified. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream in rage at the fact that she had been caught after running for so long, but most of all she wanted somebody, anybody to hold her, and tell her it would be all right, she was tired, tired of running, tired of fighting, tired of living, if you could call it living.  
  
She began murmuring softly the song, 'You are My Sunshine', and she remembered her mother used to sing it to her every night before she went to sleep. Right before she died, her mother had told her that one day she would find her sunshine. Polaris knew it was corny, she knew it was stupid but it was what kept her going, and at least she had that.  
  
Just as the thought entered her head she passed out, and didn't wake up for a long time.  
  
Logan from the cockpit, thought he heard something, he swiveled around in his chair and walked up to the broken metal door, peering in he saw the woman hadn't moved at all, but in the darkness, he caught sight of a slight glimmer as one single tear slide down her cheek, it must be my imagination, he thought and turned around.  
  
A/N: Whatta think? I demand a review from somebody, I don't care who anyone is fine, please? R&R. 


	2. Wakey Wakey

Lone Star.  
  
Disclaimer: **eyes darken** You know......  
  
A/N: I will not explain the bit with Polaris again I explained it on the 1st chapter you can read that again, e-mail me if you have any questions. R&R! Oh and a big thanks to:  
  
Wolviesfan: Thanks for the info, I knew he spoke some other languages, I wasn't sure which though, but to add to the dramatic effect I decided to make him...forget, if ya know what I mean. ^_~ Thank you!  
  
Kaminarimon: I appreciate the long superlative words, means a lot to me to know you think I have some talent. It brightens my day.  
  
Choas: I hope to see it progress too ^_^!  
  
Sushi: Thanks! Merci! Danke! Grazias! Grazie! Obrigado! And all that jazz.  
  
Chapter two, Wakey Wakey.  
  
Logan sat down in a chair adjacent from Polaris; she was lying down in the bed that had been prepared for her in the medical wing of the institutes underground. She had an IV in one arm, and an air mask over her face as a precaution. Hank had said that if there where to be a change in air pressure she could/would get worse, so for now, she had it on as a precaution, until she woke up, whenever that was.  
  
Hank and Professor Xavier where still there, Hank was hanging over her doing diagnoses, the metal glare of the room reflected off of his furrowed brow as he looked at her vitals.  
  
He looked up at them, "There's good news and bad news." He declared.  
  
"What's the good news?" Logan groaned.  
  
"The good news is the cuts on her arm aren't infected and will heal fine, without much scarring, and her high altitude sickness is almost cleared up, a few more hours and she should be stabilized."  
  
"And the bad news?"  
  
"She's got pneumonia in her right lung. It's really not that much of a shock, up in those Canadian mountains with barely anything on for so long, she's got mild exposure to cap it all off."  
  
Logan looked like he was about to snap at him but Xavier cut him off. "Will she be all right, Hank?"  
  
He looked up at him, "I think so. Logan found her in time, although if she had been out there much longer she'd probably have phenomena in both lungs."  
  
"Then we are fortunate," Xavier said bringing his wheelchair around, "but that brings up another question: What was she doing in those mountains?" He looked at Logan.  
  
"What?" He looked at him levelly "Doc I told you, she was fighting with Sabertooth when I found her."  
  
"But what would Magneto want with her?" Hank asked.  
  
"Don't look at me," He growled, "I aint the one that's physic." He crossed his arms and stared at the wall.  
  
"I won't enter her mind," Xavier said, he wheeled his chair to the metal door that open automatically, "Not yet, I'll wait until she wakes up, then we will see what she has to tell us fist." He left, leaving Hank and Logan alone.  
  
"I'm going to run some tests on the blood samples we got from her, I'll be back in a few hours to see how she's doing." He left, taking a small tray with various medical tools on it along with a small vial of blood he had gotten when Logan had first brought her in. That left Logan alone.  
  
**In the hallway**  
  
"Professor! Wait a moment." Hank called after Xavier.  
  
"Yes Hank?" He asked turning around. Hank jogged to catch up with him.  
  
"What do you make of, what that girl said to him?" He asked jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the medical wing.  
  
"Oh, yes, that little bit of Spanish, I'll put it this way Hank," He looked at him seriously. "By the look of the Blackbird, she could have done it."  
  
"But we still don't know what her power is."  
  
"Something tells me, that when she wakes up we will find out. What puts me off is that I was not able to find her on Cerebro."  
  
"Maybe it is just because she is older, and then again there has been such an upwelling in mutation that you didn't notice her, its was bound to happen." Hank suggested.  
  
"I hope so, Hank, I hope so."  
  
**Later that day in the medical room.**  
  
"Would you go ahead and wake up already?" Logan was pacing the room in annoyance.  
  
He had been stuck in the room the whole day, and he was restless, he had began pacing an hour ago to stretch his legs.  
  
At one point Kitty (Half-pint to him) came down to give him an apple, she said 'He must, like, have been getting hungry, cooped up in this room all day.' He had growled and grudgingly took the apple from her, mumbling thanks. She smiled and skipped off. He had smiled too as he took a bite of the apple, only after she was out of sight though. He really did care for the kids, they had so much potential, he enjoyed helping them reach it, but he had to be hard on them, they couldn't be babied their whole lives.  
  
Through out the day some of the kids had come don to see the mystery woman, but he had to scare them off, Xavier had told him not to let any of the kids down until they were sure the woman wasn't a danger to them, and Logan wasn't about to let any of the kids get hurt.  
  
"Com on!" He growled and stomped over to her bed like a child who had not gotten their way. "Wake up! I'm sick of being in this room!" He leaned over her his face over hers. He growled as he looked down at her.  
  
What happened next happened so fast, that anyone watching would have had to sit back and think on it for a moment, to fully understand what had happened. Polaris's eyes snapped open and lightning fast she gathered her surroundings, the first thing she registered is she was in some sort of lab the second thing she registered was that the man that had captured her was looking down at her, and that all the vital body parts were in her range. She decided to get at the thing closest to her, his jaw.  
  
She gave him a right hook that sent him reeling, she spun around and kicked him over using both legs and all the strength her weakened muscles could muster. She jumped up so she was standing on the bed and realized she was wearing a different set of cloths her white shirt had been replaced with a green one and her jeans where different. But at that moment that was the least of her worries, she pulled off the oxygen mask, snapping the cords. As she went to jump off the bed, she noticed the IV; she quickly pulled it out using as much precision as possible, making quick work of it she jumped from the bed vaulting most of the room towards the door.  
  
By this time Logan had recovered and was running after her yelling, "Get back I'm not gonna hurt ya!"  
  
Polaris wasn't paying attention she was scrambling towards the door holding out her had as she used her mutation, she was soon past the small obstacle by blasting it out of the way, it groaned as it pushed in on its self until it flew into the hallway, crashing through a wall. Her fear made her power stringer but unfortunately it didn't do her body any good. She pumped her legs as hard as she could ducking around corners, but soon her legs felt like they were made of lead instead of flesh and blood, at this point she whished they were lead, because then she could have made herself fly. Her chest was on fire, her lungs felt like they would burst with the effort.  
  
Then all of a sudden she was on the ground and something heavy was on to off her. Logan had tackled her from behind.  
  
"Geoffa me!" She snarled and tried to get up, but he was too heavy and she was too weak.  
  
"Not until you agree to come back to the medical wing with me." He said straining to keep her down.  
  
"What so you can finish what ever experiment you were doing on me? I don't think so pal!" She shoved him off of her and began running again, but not before she had taken a few steppes a pair of arms seized her and pinned her own arms to her sides, Logan bent a little back so that her feet where slightly off the ground. She twisted and struggled and kicked, but to no avail, he didn't loosen his grip at all. She screamed in rage and went limp, knowing that she could not get loose, and also knowing that if she got anymore worked up she'd get sicker than she already was. Better to die of sickness then under these freaks knife, she thought.  
  
"We are not gonna hurt ya!" He said turning around, and walking awkwardly down the hall back to the medical lab-wing he corrected himself.  
  
Hank came barreling out of a doorway that had not suffered Polaris's wrath. "Logan, what was that, it sounded like a cage animal-oh, hello." He stopped and looked at the woman Logan was holding, her long black hair had slide in front of her face and she was glowering up at him through her hair. She twisted slightly so Logan had to change his grip.  
  
"Hey, she's awake now what? She think's we're gonna hurt her." She had begun struggling again and his muscles flexed as he tried to maintain his grip.  
  
"Of course you are your working for Magneto, what else would you do?"  
  
"On the contrary," said a voice that came up from behind Logan, Polaris struggled to turn her head to see the voice. "We are working to fight Magneto." Xavier pulled up beside them. "Hello, I am Professor Charles Xavier, I run this school and you are?"  
  
She glared at him, "Polaris."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Polaris. Allow me to make the introductions, this," He said gesturing to Hank, "Is Professor Hank McCoy also know by Beast." Hank nodded politely. "And the man holding you right now is Logan also know by Wolverine, don't let hi temperament fool you, he was quite worried about you." Logan grunted in annoyance.  
  
"I'm flattered really, if you not here to experiment on me can I go?"  
  
"I'm afraid not." Xavier answered her.  
  
"So I'm a prisoner?"  
  
"Oh no, your just not in any shape to leave, as a matter of fact once your better, your welcome to stay here as long as you like, assuming you have no where else to go?"  
  
"No, I don't." She said and went silent, she stopped struggling, and Logan reluctantly let go at the nod Xavier had given him, Polaris didn't see it. She stood on her own for a minute and then leaned against the wall for support, she had over exerted herself, and could barely stand up.  
  
Hank walked to her, "We have to get you back to the medical wing, you got phenomena in one of you lungs, and have just gotten over you high altitude sickness, and mild exposure."  
  
She looked at him and then to his surprise she smiled at him, she really did have a nice smile. She nodded and took a deep breath, push off the wall, and walked back to the way she had come. Logan stalked behind her, ready to grab her if she made a break for it, and Hank and Xavier where on either side of her talking lightly to her. Hank finally asked what was on everyone's mind.  
  
"What exactly is your power?" He asked the question very carefully, like he was asking her if she had killed someone.  
  
She thought for a moment, "I can manipulate magnetic fields." She said finally. As they were walking at that time they passed by the medical wing's door which had been relocated to a wall.  
  
"I figured as much." Xavier said. She grinned sheepishly, "Sorry about that I can try and fix it if you want." She held out her hand and the door came out of the wall, and the surface of it rippled like water as he dents and scraps where smoothed out of it, the door floated to its old position, and stuck there, everyone could here the sounds of metal snapping, and the door, finally fixed, hissed as it automatically opened again. "I can't do anything about the wall, I'll fix that too later if you want."  
  
She took a step back as she became suddenly very dizzy, she fell beck against Logan and looked up at him, realizing who she had fallen back on she jerked back up, and promptly began to fall forward. Logan reached out and steadied her from falling by putting a firm hand on her shoulder, he felt the muscles in her shoulder stiffen, and he drew back his hand.  
  
When they got into the room, Hank led Polaris back to the bed and ordered her to at least sit down. She obeyed and sat down at the edge.  
  
"Now," Xavier began, "Let me explain a few things, first off you are in Bayville New York, more specifically The School for Gifted Youngsters, or mutants if you will. It is owned by myself and operated by a team of more than capable individuals, two of which are in this room." Polaris cast a skeptical look at Logan but nodded all the same. "Then there is the matter of students. Our students have been dubbed the X-men, they handle various missions and they lie, but most of the time they recruit new mutants or this school before Magneto gets to them."  
  
Polaris gripped the side of the bed, "You know something Xavier, I think I might take up on your offer to let me stay here."  
  
"I'm glad to here it." He said calmly.  
  
"But I'll need to get a job, you know any bars that are hiring, I make a mean tequila."  
  
He smiled pleasantly at her. "That won't be necessary, you see as Logan has pointed out to me on more than one occasion, I need more instructors for the growing number of students this school is receiving." Polaris looked taken aback for a moment, she collected herself quickly.  
  
"So what would I have to do?"  
  
"Assist in their training on the control of their powers, for a better understanding of who they are."  
  
"Oh is that all." She said, and Logan grinned at her, as he caught the dry humor. "Well in that case I'd love to."  
  
"Good, Good. I'll give you more details when you are feeling better. But for now I think you should meet some of your new students." "Alright," She said rising, "Where are they?"  
  
"No need to rise they will be here shortly."  
  
No sooner had he said it then there was a BAMF and Kurt appeared.  
  
"Hallo Professor, what's up?" He looked around his dark hair swishing around his face as he looked expectantly at Polaris, as though she would jump up and do a trick.  
  
"Kurt, I would like you to meet your newest Professor, Miss Polaris." He gestured to her.  
  
"Charmed." He said holding out a three-fingered hand, which she held out her own and shook it. "My name is Kurt, Kurt Wagner, but everybody calls me Nightcrawler or fuzzy elf."  
  
She chuckled a little, "I think I prefer elf."  
  
"So does he." Kurt said jerking his thumb back to Logan.  
  
Polaris had little time to regard this because very soon after Kurt had finished talking, Kitty phased though the door.  
  
"Like, what happened to the wall Professor?" She asked glancing over her shoulder as though she could still see the wall through the now fixed metal door.  
  
Polaris shook her head from side to side, her black hair falling across her face.  
  
"Kitty, I would like you to meet your newest Professor, Miss Polaris." Xavier repeated.  
  
Kitty looked at her surprised, "Like, its suh a pleasure to meet you. Its great to have another woman teacher, Miss. Storm is nice, but she's not here all the time. Are you going to stay at the school like Mr. Logan or Mr. Hank?" She asked politely.  
  
"I'm flattered, and yes." Polaris said to her.  
  
In a short time most of the X-men where there. Scott, Jean, and Rouge all came down, but none of the new mutants did. Polaris greeted them all in turn, smiling at them. As the day wore on, Logan could see Polaris's smile was more and more forced, until finally he couldn't take it any more.  
  
"Alright kid's visiting hours over, lets get outta here, and one of ya's gotta fix the wall." He growled and ushered them out. He saw Polaris from the corner of his eye, she mouth the words 'Thank You' and smile at him, a genuine gratitude filled smile. He suddenly felt better than he had in days.  
  
A/N: Well whattda ya think? R&R! 


	3. Make your own Coffee!

Lone Star.  
  
Disclaimer: Tribute to Kurt! Ich besitze nicht nichts! Danke!  
  
A/N: Well what can I say? R&R!  
  
Chapter three, Make your own Coffee!  
  
In three days Polaris was ready to leave the hospital wing, she had gotten several visits, mostly by Kurt and Kitty. They asked the occasional questions, they'd try to cheer her up, mostly because she couldn't leave. Polaris didn't mind, she actually liked having someone to talk to. Logan would come in every once and a while, see if she was alive, grunt then leave. It was starting to get on her nerves. Hank and Xavier paid the occasional visit, she liked it when Hank came to visit every few hour to check her vitals, but he would talk with her when he was down there, and she enjoyed talking to him. But her mind always traveled back to Logan when she was alone. Why did he keep checking on her? She had enough people in and out so that he could just ask someone. Kitty once paid her a visit and said something that caught her attention.  
  
"Hey, like, why is Mr. Logan, hanging outside your door?" She asked squinting at the door, like she could see through it.  
  
Polaris shrugged. "Tell you the truth I don't know, he hasn't said more than a few words to me since I got here."  
  
"Well that's no big surprise he, like, never talks. But when you first where brought here, he stayed down here with you, and Professor X didn't even ask him too, weird huh"  
  
Polaris thought about this for a minute, and then after Kitty had left, she got up and walked to the door. As it open, it reveled that Logan, was indeed, leaning against the wall, next to the whole that she had made earlier.  
  
"What are you doing?" She asked looking at him.  
  
"Loitering, why that a crime here?" He snapped not returning her gaze.  
  
"At most public places it is." If he was going to be smart with her, she'd return fire she decided.  
  
"Well this aint a public place now is it?"  
  
"I dunno you tell me."  
  
"I just did."  
  
"Fine then." She walked back into the room and herd the snort of indignation that followed to door shutting, but she did not hear footsteps, he was still out there.  
  
When it finally came time to leave the hospital wing, Logan showed her room, it was across the hall from his, and down the hall from Hank's, and next to the spare room for Ororo when she decided to stay over night.  
  
The room was medium sized, with a vanity desk and a queen-sized bed; the comforter was a deep green color. There was a large window on the far wall that let the sunlight stream through the partially closed blinds. Not too bad, she thought. Polaris took one step in looked around and turned to look at Logan. She regarded him for a moment, and then spoke.  
  
"Hey, I just wanted to say," She looked around for a second gathering the words, "thanks, for pulling me out of the fight with Sabertooth."  
  
"Yeah, well," Logan paused he was taken completely aback at this. "Your welcome." He growled.  
  
She shut the door; he could hear footsteps and the whining of springs from the bed. He looked up and down the hallway; no one had seen that, no one had heard that. Good, he thought gruffly to himself it was better that none of the kids thought he was going soft.  
  
The next morning started out fine for Polaris, she had woken up before anyone. She had been having another nightmare, and when she woke up she was on the floor. She had fallen out of the bed again. She growled to herself, muttering curses to random objects. She needed coffee, yeah that was it, she pulled on a robe she found hanging on a hook on the back of the door, as she rushed past the vanity desk, she caught a glance at herself in the mirror, the side of her face was red from where she'd fallen off the bed, it would go back to normal in a few minutes, but her hair was a mess, it was sticking up in odd ways that defied gravity. She grabbed the brush sitting on the desk and pulled it through her hair, wincing as it hit knots and tangles. She once more went to the mirror satisfied she went to the door, and proceeded to the kitchen.  
  
Hank had showed her where everything was; Logan had stalked behind her muttering darkly. He had also told her that the Professor, had asked Jean to buy her some cloths and they had been put into her closet. She nodded and said that they shouldn't have done that, she had money, and she could buy her own cloths. But He had told her the Professor insisted. She hung her head defeated.  
  
Right now, she was wearing a pair of green boxers and an oversized T-shirt. She had to admit; the girl had gotten cloths she would have picked out on her own anyway.  
  
As she reached the kitchen, she noticed the first time how many cabinets there where. She growled and muttered so darkly it would have put even Logan to shame, Polaris wasn't a morning person by any means.  
  
The kitchen was neat and clean, unnaturally clean. She wondered who exactly did the chores. She supposed that it was a, you do it you clean it, kind of deal. Ah well. She didn't mind. It was nice just having a place to stay for a change.  
  
She continued to ruffle through the cabinets. Upon opening the third one she found the coffee beans. She pulled out the bag, and winced as the stitching on her arm stretched, Hank had said they'd come out in a week, but for now they where a big pain.  
  
She turned around and numbly made the coffee, there wasn't much left so she had to use the rest of it. She then wondered who she would tell, but that though was gone as soon as she thought it, because the coffee was ready.  
  
She walked back to the first cabinet she opened, remembering the coffee cups she found there. She pulled out a small white one. She poured the coffee filling the cup to the brim and took a long swig.  
  
It was good she could feel herself waking up already, but it needed some sugar, she spent the next minute looking for it. She had to keep telling herself over and over again that she would get used to all the cabinets. Finally, finding her prize, she added some sugar to her coffee, and then put it back where she had found it. She took another swig, and walked over to the table.  
  
Near the far end of it was the newspaper, she walked over to it and began reading, sitting on the window seat, and taking the occasional sip of coffee.  
  
Not long after she heard the kitchen doors swing open, she looked up from her coffee mug and saw that Logan was stumbling about the kitchen, he obviously was not a morning person either. He walked over to the cabinet Polaris had found the coffee mix in, when he opened it he almost fell to the floor in shock, someone had taken his coffee mix.  
  
He glared about the kitchen and saw Polaris sitting in his usual seat, he growled in frustration. "Where's the coffee?" He asked.  
  
"Gee, I don't know, how about the coffee pot?" She snapped, already in a foul mood.  
  
He growled and stomped over to the cabinet, grabbed a coffee mug and then stomped over to the coffee pot, poured himself a cup, slammed the pot down, stomped over to the seat closest the window, glared at her, and took a sip of coffee. And spit it back out.  
  
"What kind of coffee is this?!" He yelled at her.  
  
"Why something wrong with it?" She asked innocently looking up from the paper.  
  
"Yeah its bad." He said walking to the sink and dumping out the contents of the mug.  
  
"No there's nothing wrong with my coffee!" At just that moment Hank decided to walk in. "Hank, tell him there's nothing wrong with my coffee!"  
  
Hank stood back looked at Polaris, and then at Logan, shrugging he got a coffee mug, poured himself a cup and took a sip. He looked at Logan. "No, there's nothing wrong with it."  
  
Polaris smiled triumphantly like she'd just started and won world war three. "See I told you."  
  
"I don't care what the Beast says it's still bad." He crossed his arms refusing to budge from his opinionated throne.  
  
"Then make your own coffee!" She growled at him, her triumphant smile fading.  
  
He glared at her, "I would but you used the last of the mix!"  
  
"Well then go out and buy some more!" she snarled.  
  
Just then Kitty, Jean, Scott, Kurt and Rogue fell through the kitchen's double door, pealing with laughter. The argument broke off and they glared and the kids who where falling over themselves.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Polaris asked.  
  
Kurt wiped a tear of laughter from his eye, "Sorry, Sorry, itz just, you two."  
  
"Us two what?" Growled Logan.  
  
"You, like, are fighting like kids." Kitty said still doubled over laughing.  
  
Logan glared at her and stomped out of the kitchen. Polaris downed the last of her coffee, "I'm going to take a shower." She declared, and marched out of the kitchen.  
  
Once more the laughter traveled across the kitchen, even Hank was chuckling to himself. Then suddenly they herd a BANG and they hurried out into the hallway. Logan was laying flat on his back on the hallway floor. The bathroom door had obviously been slammed in his face.  
  
He jumped dup and began banging on the door, yelling about how he need to shower too. The bathroom door opened and he smirked, but then a towel and a bar of soap came zooming out of the open door way right at his face, a small magnetic bubble surrounding them, and the bathroom door was once more slammed shut. He snatched the towel off f his head and stomped down the hallway growling.  
  
Everyone fell down on the floor, hardly able to breath they where laughing so hard, and from the closed bathroom door, they heard laughing that joined their own.  
  
A/N: Whatta think? I still aint got any reviews for chapter two! **Sob sob sob** don't ya'll love me? R&R. 


	4. A Trip Down Memory Lane

Lone Star.  
  
Disclaimer: Well I-er-that is.... I don't exactly...er....own **grabs a suitcase and heads for Mexico.**  
  
A/N: No review ack! **Dies**  
  
Chapter Four, A Trip Down Memory Lane.  
  
Polaris walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head, holding up her wet hair. She felt clean, refreshed, but most important of all awake. She sighed contentedly and shut the bathroom door. Upon turning around she came face to face with most peoples worst nightmares: an angry Wolverine.  
  
He was standing not a foot from her, a towel thrown casually over one shoulder and clutching a bar of soap like a grenade. He was so close to her and she could see there was a small vein on his right temple that looked like it was about to explode. She leaned a little bit closer to him and tapped his forehead reprovingly.  
  
"If you keep your oh-so-sunny-disposition any longer, I'm afraid you're going to wind up with an aneurysm. So calm down you'll live longer." She said in a happy go lucky voice. She unwound the towel on her head and let her wet hair fall down her back. She began to pat it dry and walked off humming a little tune to herself as she did.  
  
Logan looked after her as she walked down the hallway, and as he did, he found himself-to his own amazement-calm down. He just didn't understand what was with this woman, not half an hour ago she was yelling at him over coffee and now she was grinning like an idiot and telling HIM to calm down.  
  
He just didn't' understand women, he though, that was it, he just didn't understand them. But, if he was going to understand one of them, he thought watching Polaris's hips sway to the rhythm of the song she was humming; he'd like to understand her. He walked in to the bathroom to take his morning shower.  
  
**A Week Later**  
  
"Ok Polaris, has the anesthetic taken affect yet?" Hank asked his back to her.  
  
Polaris was, once again back in the medical wing, she sighed at the hopelessness of her ever getting out. She was here now to remove the stitches from her arm. They had healed up nicely, but there would still be four scars on her arm, but as she thought, they'd make for a talking point. "Erm, pardon, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention." She said to Hank's back.  
  
He turned around and in his hand he held what looked shockingly like a pair of scissors and tweezers. "I said, 'has the anesthetic taken affect yet?'"  
  
Looking down at her arm she pinched the area around the cuts. "Well, my arm feels like a sausage. So that's a yes." He laughed and walked over to her and began the painstakingly slow process of removing the stitches. Half an hour later all two dozen of the stitches where out and Polaris was no worse for the ware.  
  
She flexed her arm experimentally and satisfied that the cuts would not burst open she let it drop numbly to her side. "My arm is still numb." She complained.  
  
"Yes, it'll probably stay that way for most of the day." She groaned at his words, it felt awful, the numbness, she wanted to bang her arm against the sharp corner of the metal table next to her, just for the feeling of it, if nothing else.  
  
"Believe me I know the feeling." He said sympathetically. "Watch where you're walking, your arms going to be like a noodle for the rest of the day, and you don't want to open the cuts again because it bounced off a wall."  
  
She looked scornfully at her arm. "No I don't." She clarified, and then looked at him, the scornfully looked melted from her face and was replaced by a mask of gratitude. "Well, thanks for everything." She gave him a quick hug and walked out the door, the metal squeaking from the few rough spots left from where she fixed it.  
  
Hank smiled to himself and went about his work. He then pondered the relationship she had with Logan. It was obvious to everyone with eyes that he felt something for her, especially to him. It was the way he looked when he brought her in, the concern that was written on his face. And the way he gently laid her down on the bed in the medical wing, making sure to watch for the wounds on her arm. The kids had already picked up on it, he was sure of that. The funny thing was neither Logan nor Polaris for all he could see had yet to pick up on it. But the fact of the matter was, there was something there. Logan, he could not help but thinking, is very lucky. And he could not help but feel a little sorry for himself, knowing that it was a one in a million chance he would ever find someone to love him the way he was now, but it was still a chance.  
  
**Later that day.**  
  
Polaris was walking down the hallway looking straight ahead of her, spaced out though she was, she still registered the fact that Logan was waling up the hallway opposite of her, she didn't think much of it other than the fact that he was reading a news paper. He on the other hand, didn't register her at all, that is, until the where parallel to each other and her arm hit him.  
  
"Hey," He growled, "watch it."  
  
She wheeled around to face him. "Watch what?" She demanded.  
  
"Your arm, it hit me, so watch where you're going."  
  
"It did not." She cried indigently.  
  
"Yeah, it did, what's the matter can't you feel or something?" He raised an eyebrow and tucked the paper he was carrying under his arm.  
  
She looked at him levelly. "As a matter of fact, I can't. I got my stitches out today and the anesthetic is still in effect. So if my arm really did hit you I'm sorry, you happy?"  
  
"You got em' out today? Yeah, that's right it's been a week hasn't it." Then without warning he grabbed he arm and inspected it, looking at the four scars that lined her arm. He traced the lines with one of his fingers. "Your lucky not me people come out of a fight with Sabertooth alive."  
  
"Yeah well, Victor and I have never really gotten on." She said jerking her arm from his grasp.  
  
He looked puzzled for a second. "That's something I've been meaning to ask you, how do you know his name is Victor?"  
  
She cast her eye to the ground and glared at it like she would bore holes into it. Logan could see her fists tighten until the knuckles where white. Then she collected her self and put on a mask of calmness. "We go back." Was all she said.  
  
"Really, from the way you say it, its almost like you've fought him before this." He crossed his arm, in his best macho pose.  
  
She looked up at Logan, her face was calm but her eyes where full of sorrow that stretched back for years. Logan almost lost his composure as he looked into her eyes, he could almost read them, as if they where a book, and life was that simple.  
  
At that moment all he wanted to do was hold her, and tell her, he'd never let anything happen to her again, and what ever had happened he'd fix it. But that was foolish there was nothing he could do, he cast out that feeling like a doctor would a leg infected with gangrene sawing it off with merciless indifference.  
  
Then she spoke and it almost shattered his resolve. The voice that spoke was that of a child, and not the boisterous woman that he had watched the last week. Her voice was cracked and etched with the sorrow of her eyes, "I don't like to think on it." She said and began to walk away.  
  
As she did, Logan reached out and caught her wrist, "Does it," He began in his gruff voice. "Have something to do with your nightmares?"  
  
"And do yours?" She shot back at him. "What does it matter to you, what I dream? I've never asked you about your nightmares, and don't think I haven't heard you muttering and crying out in your sleep."  
  
"But I don't fall out of my bed at night." He answered evenly.  
  
She spun around on her heel and would have left had it not been for the voice that echoed through Logan, and Polaris's minds. It was Xavier 'Hank, Logan, Polaris, come to my office for a meeting as soon as you can.'  
  
After that was said, both Logan and Polaris forgot their argument, and Hank down in his lab turned off the Bunsen burner and removed the test tub he was working on. They made their way to Xavier office, and each in turn took a seat.  
  
"Now," Xavier said wheeling his chair around. "I'm sure your wondering why I called you here." His statement was met with nodes all around. "Very good. It concerns you Miss. Polaris."  
  
She looked up at the sound of her name. "Me? What do I have to do with it?" She demanded.  
  
"I was just getting to that. Before you can begin teaching here, I need to search your mind, just as a precaution I assure you. I also need to look for any memory concerning Magneto and Sabertooth, to see why he attacked you. But before I begin I need your permission."  
  
She stiffened slightly, "Fine, but when you look into my past, are you going to look in detail? And is anyone else," She cast a meaningful eye onto Logan. "Going to know what you find?" She looked at him questioningly wondering what his response would be.  
  
"Not unless it presents a danger directly to anyone here." He clarified.  
  
"Fair enough. Well then, you have my permission."  
  
"Good, good." He wheeled his chair closer to Polaris. "Alright, I need you to clear your mind, try not to focus on anything thing, have you done that, good, alright let's begin." He placed his hands on her temples. And searched through her memory, nothing wrong, aside from the occasional small thing and human was prone to do, cheating at cards, small fights at school when she was younger nothing too grave. Then he looked at for memories concerning Sabertooth and Magneto, he found two memories that stuck out more than the rest. Her mind was like a jumble of papers in a filing cabinet that had been tipped over by a hurricane, so he focused on the two that stuck out. When he did he was hit with such a force that he unknowingly projected the memories to Hank and Logan.  
  
**Memory 1** (A/N: You must remember that this is told through a child's eyes, it may be in 3rd person but your seeing through the little girl's eyes. And this happens in the span of a second time wise.)  
  
She was in a super market with her mother, a tall beautiful woman with curly blond hair, she had a kind face, but the area of her eyes and forehead where lined with wrinkles from a mother's worry.  
  
"Mommy," the child looked up at her mother, she was so small she had to stand on the bar of the cart to get a good look at her. "Can I have some fruit snacks?"  
  
"Not today dear." The mother said looking at the price tag. "When Mommy gets her paycheck we'll come back."  
  
"Yay!" The child threw her tiny fist in the air in triumph from a soon-to- be victory.  
  
Just then a booming voice came over the intercom. "Attention Food Lion shoppers, the store closes in five minutes, please proceed to the check out counter with your purchases immediately. Thank you." With a crack of the speakers the voice switched back to the oldies but goodies station it had been on before the voice started talking.  
  
"Laney?" The mother asked looking down at her child.  
  
"Yes, mommy?"  
  
"Could you run real quick to the frozen food section and grab some bologna from the lunch meat section."  
  
"Sure thing!" The child said and dashed off, looking over her shoulder she could see her mother grabbing the box of fruit snacks and putting them in the cart. The girl smiled a little wider and ran a little faster.  
  
She reached the frozen food section and looked all around, she couldn't find the lunchmeat. She walked the section once and turned around, she saw at the far end a man in a long brown trench coat; it was all torn up and patched in places.  
  
The girl remembered something her mother had told her, 'If you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask.' The little girl summed up all her courage and walked purposefully towards him, her mommy had asked her to do something, so she was going to do it.  
  
When she reached him, he was looking at a carton of eggs. "'Scuse me mister." She asked timidly. He didn't listen to her. She repeated herself; he still didn't listen to her. She reached up her little hand and tugged meekly on his coat. "'Scuse me mister." She said a little louder than before.  
  
The man looked down at her his face was covered in hair. Everyone watching the memory knew him in an instant for Sabertooth, he was considerably younger, but they knew him in an instant, unfortunately the little girl didn't know that, she didn't know the danger she was in. The man smiled and his fangs where visible. "Why hello there." He said, eyeing her like a hungry man does a window in a bakery. "What can I help you with?"  
  
She looked up at him timidly and dug her foot into the linoleum floor, "My mommy asked me to get some bologna and I can't find the lunch meat section, can you help me?"  
  
"Sure I can, they moved the lunch meat section to the back, you want me to show you where it is?"  
  
She nodded and buried her face in her hands, embarrassed that she couldn't find it herself.  
  
"Say," The man said looking down at her small form, "Your name wouldn't be Elaine would it?"  
  
"Yes it is but mommy calls me Laney. How do you know my name, do you know my Mommy or Uncle Archimedes?" She looked up at him trustingly; she was so young, so innocent, so totally oblivious t the danger she was in.  
  
"No, I'm a friend of your fathers." He grinned broader his fangs more visible than ever. "Come this way and I'll show you where the lunch meat is."  
  
"Kay!" She chirped and held out her hand, the man took it, and walked her through a door marked DO NOT ENTER on it, but the girl couldn't read, for all she knew it said, LUNCH MEAT.  
  
As they entered the hallway, the girl realized something was wrong, the hallway had doors, and lot's of them, looking back on it she realized that they were probably offices, but she didn't know that yet. The doors where all metal, and at the end of the hallway was a glass door with and EXIT sign glaring down, above it. Out side the door, the girl could see a van parked under a streetlight, she then knew what danger she was in. She twisted and struggled and screamed but the man's grip was firm on her arm. She tasted for the first time, the metallic taste of fear in the back of her mouth.  
  
Looking around frantically like a mouse that has been cornered by a cat, the little girls eyes darted around the narrow hallway. She had an idea. She braced her feet on either side of the hallway, pushing down as much weight as she could on them, but still the man pulled her forward, closer to the door, closer to the van, closer to the pain she knew would come if she went out the door with this man. Her tiny feet slide forward another inch, and then another.  
  
"NO!" the little girl yelled her small childish voice full of defiance. The man looked down at her surprised. He was sneering at her mocking her, the little girl's fear gave her strength, and it unleashed a power that was not supposed to be. Two of the metal doors one on ether side of the man, came crashing down on him, pinning him to the ground and wrapping themselves around him in a death grip.  
  
She saw everything in a red haze as she struggled to support herself, her little body's energy spent. She struggled out of the door, and when she opened it the light silhouetted a figure, it was her Uncle Archimedes, she fell into his arms, she was safe.  
  
**Memory 2**  
  
It was several years later and the small child was not so small any more, still a child but taller and gangly. No one spoke of the incident in the super market, the Black family handled matters their own way, and the man who had threatened her was well taken care of, or so they thought.  
  
The Black family was special, almost all it's members had their own power. But Uncle Archimedes was the most powerful, he saw that the little girl had potential and knew there were others who saw it to, so from birth he shielded her, protected her from outsiders, but occasional his protection would slip, now was one of those times.  
  
The girl was outside, playing on hopscotch at the end of her driveway. Uncle Archimedes and her mother were inside talking 'grown up' talk, so they sent the girl outside. With her Uncle so close, everyone thought she would be safe on her own, but the people watching her, the ones who would do her harm knew they were distracted, and took advantage of it.  
  
A van rolled around the corner and stopped in front of the driveway, the little girl looked up and stopped mid skipped, from an onlooker's point of view it would seem the girl's heart stopped, as well as her movement. She recognized the van. She recognized the driver, but she didn't recognize the person looking at her from inside the van. Nor did she recognize the voice as it spoke.  
  
"Come here child." Said the sickly sweet voice.  
  
"No, mommy told me not to talk to strangers, and you better watch out Uncle Archimedes is inside and he'll fix you!" She turned to run but, the small necklace she was wearing didn't move with her, it went straight like a bored cutting her off. It began to move back, so that she had to move with it.  
  
"Your mother is very wise." The voice said, and with a jerk of his finger the necklace began to drag her forward.  
  
"MOMMY! UNCLE ARCHEMEDIES!" The little girl cried out as she struggled against the necklace.  
  
Two figures came hurtling out of the front door, the first one was recognizable as the girl mother the second one's face was cast in shadow.  
  
"LANEY!" The mother shrieked, she raised her fight hand and it caught fire.  
  
The man whose face was in shadow stepped forward "Let the child go Eric." The man's voice said calmly.  
  
"I'm afraid we can't do that, the child presents a danger to us, you know that."  
  
"Not now she doesn't."  
  
"But she will. So I will take her now, before the threat can manifest itself, with proper teaching I'm sure she'll learn who's the winning side is."  
  
"I will stop you." The man raised the wooden cane he was holding.  
  
The man in the van looked down at the girl struggling to get away. "Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson little one." The girl stopped struggling for a moment and looked at him, her face was red and puffy from the tears running down her face. "Never think you can win." The necklace the girl was wearing snapped off and went straight like an arrow, it zoomed past the little girl and she heard a sickening squelch as it hit flesh.  
  
The little girl fell to the ground at the sudden like of obstacle. Se turned around to see what the necklace had hit. When she did she screamed, her mother was lying on her back, the necklace sticking out of her body and the small heart charm glittering red in the sunlight.  
  
"MOMMY!" The little girl screamed and ran towards her mother; the tires screech echoed her own as the van drove off. Her Uncle jumped in front of her and caught her mid run and shushed her cries. "MOMMY!" She yelled again, and sank down into the blissful blackness of sleep, where one didn't have to think.  
  
**Back to consciousness**  
  
The professor gasped as he exited her mind and Polaris sagged forward. Looking around he saw that Hank and Logan had fallen to the floor, and he realized with growing horror, that they had seen her memories. The emotion had been too high; he couldn't take it so he unwittingly passed it to the two others.  
  
Polaris too looked around her eyes wide with horror, "Why," she began in a quavering voice, "Why did you make me remember that, like I had to live that nightmare all over again."  
  
Hank and Logan began to get up, each looking at her, meaningfully, and then she realized what had happen, "You saw," she began, "didn't you?" She asked.  
  
The two nodded, not even Logan could speak, what must it have been like to watch your mother die at that age, what must it have been like to know you where being hunted.  
  
"Polaris, I am so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen." Xavier said.  
  
"I know you didn't." She said with a sigh, "It was partially my fault. I was so upset, I wanted the world to know, and I wanted everyone to share my pain, it wasn't fair." She was fighting back sobs. "Why should I have had to go through with that? Why me?" She put her face in her hands, "It just wasn't fair."  
  
Xavier patted her back, "I know, we all do."  
  
A/N: ARGH! That was a hard one! R&R! 


	5. Whatever lies beyond this morning

Lone Star.  
  
Disclaimer: Ok you caught me! I don't own it! Take me away officer! **Holds out wrists**  
  
A/N: Last chapter was hard to write, this one will be harder, I'm trying my best to keep Logan in character, please don't kill me if I get anything wrong! Oh and I'd like to give a shout out to:  
  
Neostar: Thanks for the review, and yeah, my grammar sucks doesn't it? I'm going to go back and edit them in hopes of my grammar to be......not......sucky...anymore. AH!  
  
Stephanie: Thanks, this one's for you!  
  
P.S.: I'm sorry this chapter is so short, the next one will be much longer I promise but Carpal Tunnel syndrome is slowing me down quite a bit, sorry for the future delays!  
  
Chapter five, Whatever lies beyond this morning.  
  
**Later that night**  
  
Logan jerked awake, his sleep once more disturbed by nightmares, but these were not his own. He was re-living the past, or more specifically, Polaris's past. He'd seen her memories, the sight of her mother's dead body still sent chills down his spin, what must it was been like for her, at that age. Even though most of his past was a black void, he still couldn't imagine living with something like that.  
  
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and crawled out of bed, it was no use, he couldn't sleep, he glanced at the clock and realized it was 5 in the morning. He'd have gotten up in an hour anyway; he might as well get up now. He couldn't help but thinking as he got out of bed, God how I hate mornings.  
  
He looked out the window and could see the first rays of dawn creeping over the horizon. He'd go make some coffee before Polaris woke up, that way he wouldn't have to drink that any of that bile she called coffee.  
  
He walked to the door, opening it slowly as he remembered that the hinge squeaked. He'd fix that later to day, he promised himself. Filing that away on his to-do list, he walked into the hallway and heard a muffled yelp.  
  
It came from Polaris room. His claws came out and he stalked towards the door, eyeing it like prey. He leaned his ear against the door and heard the sheets ruffle and the springs of the mattress strain, she was having another nightmare, it was only a matter of time before she fell off the bed again, it was like an alarm clock with her, but usually she woke up before him. But not today, today he was going to march straight into that kitchen make his own coffee, grab the newspaper and sit in his window seat. Then he heard a moan. Growling to him, he backed away from the door and began to walk away, and then he heard it again.  
  
Going against his better instincts he walked back to the door and opened, peering in he could see she had her blinds open and the sun filtered into her room, he followed the pattern of light until it reached her bed, the covers where twisted in knots like she'd been kicking at them for hours, he walked closer to her bed, drawing in his claws.  
  
Then he saw her, she had scooted up into the farthest corner of the bed, like she was trying to phase through the wall like Kitty. Not only that she was teetering on the corner, no wonder she always fell of the bed every night.  
  
Reaching her he bent down and shook her shoulder lightly, then leaned back a little remembering the first time she'd woken up to his face in the medical wing.  
  
Polaris sat bolt upright and hit her head on the wall.  
  
"Ow!" She yelled and grabbed the back of her head, looking around she spotted Logan, and scooted to the other side of the bed. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.  
  
"Trying to save you a fall." He said bluntly, and sat down at the end of her bed. "Having another nightmare?"  
  
"And you?" She shot back hostilely.  
  
"Don't I always." He shrugged and got back up.  
  
She sighed and leaned back against the offending wall for support. "Yeah," she said. "Tell me what are your dreams about." She had to ask.  
  
He looked back at her, and then sank back onto the bed. "My past, at least the parts I can remember."  
  
"What?" She asked, even though she'd been in the same building as he had, she'd never asked Logan anything about his past, or his power for that matter. She suddenly felt very guilty for it.  
  
"I don't remember my past, that good enough for you?"  
  
"I guess," She began, "But could you tell me, what is your power?"  
  
This took Logan aback, she didn't know? No, that's right he'd been very careful not to reveal the fact that he had metal in his body to her. She had the same power as Magneto, and he had, had enough experience with what he could do to him. He unconsciously rubbed his knuckles remembering the pain.  
  
"Can't you figure it out by yourself?" He mocked.  
  
"Well you haven't done anything that would give it away, and its been bugging me all week. I've been watching you this whole time hoping you'd slip up." She said as nonchalantly as she could. She fidgeted with her hair nervously; she'd been jittery ever since Hank, Logan and Xavier had found out about her past. She didn't need people feeling sorry for her, she needed to forget, but she couldn't every night she'd be reminded and every morning when she'd wake up, it was like a knife in her chest, not her mother's.  
  
He grunted, so she'd noticed, "Well, if you hafta know, I can got an advanced healing factor."  
  
"And." She moved her hands in circles signaling him to continue.  
  
"And what?"  
  
"I know there's more that your not telling me, there is no way you could have gotten out of a fight with Victor and come out totally unscathed not matter how good you healing is, there's got to be another edge to it."  
  
"I've got heightened senses."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And...." He trailed off for a moment, "an adamantium skeleton and claws."  
  
Polaris was silent for a moment, and then she grinned evilly. "You mean to tell me, that your skeleton is all metal?" For all Logan's heightened senses he didn't catch the tone in her voice.  
  
"That's right, the metal that makes up my skeleton is indestructible." He said proudly.  
  
"So you mean I could do this?" She jumped up and pointed at him, and sure enough he levitated off of the bed.  
  
"Put me down Black!" He snarled and struggled to grab something, but Polaris was too smart for that, and levitated him well out of the reach of anything.  
  
"No way, I'm having way too much fun!" She giggled girlishly. She spun him around ignoring the death threats, curses and insults that came her way, then her eyes lit up in sudden inspiration. "Hey Logan, you ever hear the song 'I'm a little teapot?'"  
  
Logan's eyes went wide in horror, dismay, and a touch of realization. "No." He said horrified.  
  
"Yes." She said gleefully, she jerked her thumb a little and Logan was unable to open his mouth to protest.  
  
Logan's arms began to move and he tried to fight them down harder than he'd ever done anything before, but it was in vain his arms went into the teapot position.  
  
"I'm a little teapot, short and stout," She said in a sing-song voice, "here is my handle." His left arm jerked a little. "Here is my spout." his right arm jerked a little. "When I get all steamed up hear me spout. Tip me over and pour me out." Logan fought, he struggled with all his might not to tip over, but he did.  
  
As soon as the song was over Polaris lowered him to the floor and fell on the bed laughing so hard she couldn't breath. She felt like she was dieing. "Oh my God! That was so hilarious!" Was all she could come up with as she almost rolled off the bed laughing.  
  
Unfortunately Logan did not share this view; on the contrary he was seething with rage. He stomped over to her baring his teeth and relishing his claws, death was staring straight through his eyes. He made as if to punch her in the face, but forgot his claws were out; luckily Polaris had been expecting this so she stopped him mid-swing.  
  
Opening her eyes she wiped away tears of laughter and stared at him, she didn't freeze his face only his body, his faced looked down horrified, at his arm. If she hadn't stopped him, he would have killed her, he couldn't believe he had let his anger get the better of him.  
  
Polaris realized this. "You know," she said getting up and walking over to him. "You really have got to watch your temper, remember what I said," She got up to him, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, his face went from horrified to puzzled in a flat second he tried to open his mouth to speak but she froze it. Women's intuition told her he'd say something stupid. "You'll live longer." She finished and walked to the door, opening it she made as if to walk out, but paused, glancing over her shoulder she looked at Logan and smiled gratefully, "Oh, and Logan, thanks, for caring about me enough to come in here and see if I was safe." She shut the door and Logan fell to the floor at the sudden ability to move again, his hand flew to his cheek and her ran to the door, he flung it open and glanced up and down the hallway and saw the bathroom door shut, from where he was could hear the water turn on.  
  
Sighing and saying to himself once again how he'd never understand women he walked to the kitchen to make some coffee.  
  
A/N: WEEEELLLLL?! What didja think? Hrm? PLEASE R&R! 


	6. Real World 101

Lone Star  
  
Disclaimer: If you don't know by now I aint gonna tell you. Humph!  
  
A/N: Urgh FF.net hasn't been working for me. I'm leaving on 'vacation' to spend time with the 'family' I won't be back until Sunday so don't expect an update until at least Monday, okay? Okay.  
  
Chapter six, Real World 101  
  
**That following Monday**  
  
Polaris fidgeted nervously as the students gathered around her on the lawn. It was her first lesson and she'd planned it out, but she was still nervous despite the constant reassurances from Hank and Xavier that she would do fine.  
  
To the casual observer she didn't look nervous, to the casual observer would look like a confident woman braiding her hair in boredom, but Logan was there observing the lesson, and he could tell she was nervous. Xavier had asked him to watch her and make sure nothing went wrong, despite his confidence in her things might go astray.  
  
As the kid's gathered on the lawn Polaris stood up and began to walk towards them.  
  
"Yo teach!" Evan called out, "When's this lesson gonna start."  
  
"Well Evan," She lifted her hand as if to wave to him, but Logan saw that the bracelet she wore on that arm snapped off and zoomed towards Evan, the boy didn't even notice until she stopped it a few inches from his face. "Right now. And you're dead."  
  
The other kids began to laugh at him, but the bracelet split up into shards and all went flying towards them, and the same thing happened to them as it had to Evan.  
  
"You all are." Polaris said and the shards came back together to form the harmless bracelet on her left wrist. "Congratulations you've all been killed by a bracelet."  
  
"C'mon teach that's kinda harsh." Evan said sheepishly.  
  
"The real world is harsh, do you think anyone trying to kill you would have stopped those metal shards like I did? What I'm going to be trying to do is teach you how to cope with it." She said trying to sound as professional as possible. "The real world was never kind to me, it will not take an exception on you. The mutant prejudice hype has grown now more than ever, I'm sure you've all noticed it?"  
  
The mood turned somber, everyone knew what she was talking about, everyone had, had their own taste of the real world, small doses but none the less, no one had acquired the taste for it as of yet.  
  
"Good then we are all on the same page."  
  
Then she began her lesson, mostly explaining how some powers could be used to counter others, and reviewing some things the kids already knew. Then she began the hands on portion of the lesson, flinging metal objects at the kids, some of them blocked them others did not.  
  
One of the newer mutants almost decapitated his teammate when he deflected a saw blade that was thrown at him. Polaris reprimanded him, reminding him that they must always be aware of their surroundings, some objects could be used in a fight and some could be harmful to themselves and their teammates. The kid that did this-Bobby--spent the rest of the lesson practicing his aim with Jean Grey, while Polaris watched the rest of them.  
  
Polaris was pleased to see that most of the kid's knew what they were doing from experience, they were all good but some were better than others.  
  
She turned her attention back on the kids, the Institute was equipped with machines that threw metal saw blades, but Polaris didn't want to use them, they had to have experience with people, machines were programmed they didn't think, she wanted them to have experience with tactics. So she took the blades from the machines and was using her power to throw them, varying in force and aim trying to catch them off guard.  
  
Kitty phased through hers and caught it throwing it back at Polaris; Kurt did much the same thing only teleporting behind it. Scott blasted his back at her. Others with out the power to stop it with their powers ether jumped out of the way, caught it, or stopped it some other way.  
  
Only two or three came close to clipping Polaris but she always stopped them in time, sometimes though, she'd let it get closer than normal so the kid's would feel that they were getting better so they'd work a little harder, but when Jean threw hers' at her she had to strain to stop it.  
  
After two hours they stopped, and she called the lesson to a halt, congratulating them all on a good lesson. The kids went away tired but pleased, some complaining that her lesson had been tougher than the sessions they had with Logan, only she was much nicer than he was.  
  
The whole time Logan watched silently as she worked with the kids, complimenting, scolding, and congratulating them. The kids all seemed to like her, they did what she said with out complaint, and he found himself pleased she was doing a good job.  
  
After he saw the lesson was over, he walked over to her. "You did a good job, Black. The kids seem really seem to accept you." He said watching the last of them go inside. He'd been calling her Black ever since he'd found out her last name.  
  
"You don't think I pushed them too hard?" She asked.  
  
"Huh, no, that's my job. It's like you said, the real world aint gonna make an exception on them."  
  
**Up in Xavier office**  
  
Xavier, Hank and Storm watched the two figures on the lawn, they had been watching since the beginning of the lesson, with Xavier relaying the speech into their minds.  
  
They had all been pleased with the way the lesson had gone, some of the students had shown defiant improvement.  
  
Xavier was not alone when he thought the relationship between Polaris and Logan was a pleasant change. The way she had been affecting him, it seemed to have calmed his temper a bit, and he was not the only one who could say they were very happy with that.  
  
"So," Storm asked looking down at Xavier, "How much longer do you think this will carry on, until one of them notices?"  
  
"I don't think much longer." He answered wheeling his chair around. "But that's not what concerns me, nor why I called you here."  
  
"Oh," She raised an eyebrow, "Then what did you call us here for?"  
  
"Cerebro has picked up the movements of a very powerful mutant, and who ever he is, he's headed this way." He propped his elbows up and crossed his hands.  
  
"Can't Cerebro tell who it is?" Hank asked hopping off of the chair he was sitting in and walking towards him.  
  
"I'm afraid not you see, this particular mutant has been around for quite some time, I've caught glimpses of him before while operating Cerebro, but never has it stayed so constant." "Which means?" Hank asked.  
  
"Which means that this mutant has been shielding himself from us for all this time, I looked into the Black family to see why Cerebro had never picked any of them up." He glanced out the window where he could still see Logan and Polaris talking. "Every member of her family is a mutant. I was able to detect most of them after this one started moving earlier today. I also discovered that there are people that live on the Black property that are not members of the family themselves, but they are all mutants themselves."  
  
"Almost like a coven of mutants." Storm mused.  
  
"Yes, the one that is moving now is undoubtedly the head of the family, he must have caught wind that Polaris is here and is on the move. We must be on our guard all of us, this mutant, is one of the most powerful I have ever seen."  
  
"Should we tell Polaris?" Hank looked out the window, Polaris was bent over laughing at something, she had her hands up like a teapot, and he couldn't help but wonder what she was doing.  
  
Xavier raised an eyebrow and dropped his hands, "No, not now."  
  
"And why not?"  
  
"We don't know who this mutant is, it may not be a member of her family, and I think its best we wait until he gets here."  
  
"If you say so."  
  
"Very well, you may go."  
  
Hank and Storm headed out the door, but Hank was still wondering why Polaris was dancing like a teapot.  
  
"Oh and Hank, one more thing." Xavier called after him.  
  
Hank turned around to face the professor, "Yes?"  
  
"The reason she's doing that is because this morning she discovered that Logan's skeleton is made up of Adamantium." Xavier grinned a little. "And this morning she was struck with a 'brilliant' idea."  
  
"What-" Hank began then realized what she must have done, "Oh." was all he said then walked out of the office.  
  
He decided that he would go to his lab, and work on a particularly hard experiment he'd been doing for a while now. On his way down there he had to pass into the entryway on the way down to the lab. He came down the steps and caught sight of Logan and Polaris as they entered, as he past Logan; he began laughing, then waved jovially at them both and continued down the hall laughing.  
  
Logan turned to Polaris and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged and said, "No idea." And they went down separate hallways, he went to the training room, and she to the kitchen, the lesson had been tiring and she needed a snack.  
  
When she got to the kitchen she discovered it was already full of kids most of which had been on her lesson. Apparently she wasn't the only one who needed something to eat.  
  
"Hello Miss. Black." Jean Grey said.  
  
"Yeah hey teach." Evan said.  
  
"Like, hi." Kitty said.  
  
The greetings went around. Polaris walked to the cabinet that held the chips, she'd finally gotten used to all the cabinets, as she didn't she couldn't help but smile a little.  
  
It had been so long since she'd been comfortable in one place and accepted so well, it was nice to finally have a place to call home.  
  
A/N: C'mon review I'd like something nice to come home to. 


	7. A dangerous liaison

Lone Star  
  
Disclaimer: *sings* Zippadee doo-da! Zippa dee-ay! My, oh my, what a wonderful day!  
  
A/N: Thank you all my beautiful reviewers **sob sob** I love you all! I'd like to send a shout out to:  
  
NeoStar: Once again, thank you for your reviews.  
  
Fairy: Aw a fellow Logan lover, always good to know there are others and I'm not crazy, well, not entirely, any way.  
  
SpasticSkitzo: I agree: horrible, but funny. Lol.  
  
SlYtHeRiN kId: Thanks, I try really hard to come up with somewhat original chapter titles, I think it strikes up interest.  
  
Chapter seven, A dangerous liaison.  
  
"Ok Logan I win." She dropped her cards on the table. "A royal flush. You know what that means."  
  
Logan grumbled and dropped his cards--four sevens--down beside the rest of the deck. "Alright, Black, alright, you win. The bar opens at nine we'll leave at ten that fine with you?"  
  
Polaris nodded and collected the cards, celebrating the victory in her head. She'd been bugging Logan to show her, the local bars, but he wouldn't. Finally she challenged him to a game of poker, she won, he'd take her to the bar, she lost, and she'd stop bothering him about it. Naturally she'd got the deck, so naturally she'd won. Mind you she'd cheated, but she wasn't about to tell him that.  
  
She would have gotten out and gone to the bar herself, she'd walked through the town and seen it on her own, but going alone would be so dull, and she was in the mood for a little excitement.  
  
Sure her lessons kept her busy, and training kept her occupied but she was growing more and more bored with it all, and that was not a good thing, in the past the second she'd grown bored with the place she was staying she left to find a greener pasture. She really liked this place, but old habits die-hard.  
  
**Later that day**  
  
"Black, hurry up!" Logan called irritably at the closed door that led to Polaris's room.  
  
"I'm coming!" The doorknob twisted on it's own and the door was flung open, Polaris came bristling out shortly after. "I'm done! Your ready?"  
  
Logan looked open mouthed at her, she wasn't wearing anything fancy per-say, but for some reason Logan couldn't help but thinking he was with the most beautiful woman in the world. Her outfit--a pair of faded, tight, form flattering jeans, a white wife beater tank top, and a leather jacket-- was very simple as was her hair, which was combed out neatly and fell behind her back in a black cascade. "Yeah. Sure." He grumbled turning away from her. "C'mon lets go."  
  
She followed him into the garage, which was filled with a variety of cars, Scott's sports car, Jean's car, the X-van, and Logan's motorcycle. Polaris whistled softly, and looked at Logan. "We're gonna ride that?" She asked nodding her head at the bike.  
  
"Unless you're a fan of walkin'." He snorted, and grabbed a pair of helmets from the rack at the back of the garage, he tossed one to her one to her, which she caught with her power out of reflex, and put his on.  
  
He got on the bike and Polaris jumped on behind him gripping his middle securely he started the bike up and roared out, a slight grin on his face.  
  
**In Xavier's office.**  
  
Xavier watched the headlights of the motorcycle as they blazed into the night. He knew all about their going to the bar, he actually approved of it. It was a good change for Logan, and Polaris was beginning to get wrestles, he'd been sensing it for a while now, it was better for her to go out and about every once and a while.  
  
Tearing his gaze away from the fading lights he turned to look instead at Hank and Storm who he had called into his office only moments before.  
  
They were both lounging lazily in the two of the many purple armchairs that resided in his office. Storm was even drinking a cup of tea she'd made moments before Xavier had called her.  
  
"Hank, Storm, I've just gotten some distressing news." He wheeled his chair towards them. "The mutant I've been tracking just disappeared from Cerebro's sensors, but not before I got his location, he'll be here with in the hour."  
  
Hank and Storm glanced at each other apprehensive they'd been expecting this for some time now, "Should we warn the students?" Storm asked, and she lowered her cup into her lap.  
  
"No, I believe this is one of Polaris's relatives, and he means her no harm. She's away from the school at the moment so I don't see how it could be a threat." He folded his hands in his lap.  
  
Hank looked confused for a moment, "So why is the news distressing?"  
  
He looked at them both levelly, "There is another mutant with him."  
  
"What?" They both asked shocked. Storm almost dropped the cup of tea she was drinking.  
  
"How can this be?" Hank asked getting up, shouldn't you or Cerebro have noticed him while you were trying to get an I.D. on the other one."  
  
Xavier raised an eyebrow, "He's a her actually." He clarified, Hank sat back down, a little embarrassed by his outburst.  
  
Best hadn't been having the best of days today and was on edge as it was. His current experiment had gone; awry was the softest word he could use for it. After all, the blast had destroyed half the lab. So the 'angry beast' in his mind had been throbbing in his brain like a bad headache, he took a moment to calm himself.  
  
"And she just came into contact with the other one." Xavier continued. "The visit wasn't expected obviously, because the movement of the two stopped for some time, then it continued, then stopped and then disappeared completely. It is obvious that the one warned the other of his mistake."  
  
"So they are working together then?" Storm asked calmly taking a sip of tea, her composure regained from her initial shock.  
  
"Yes, I think we should prepare two of the extra rooms for guests."  
  
**At the bar**  
  
Polaris was had her elbows propped up on the bar enjoying her third drink. "This is the life." She sighed contentedly. "I haven't had a beer in ages!"  
  
They'd only been in the bar ten minutes and already Polaris had drunk three beers. Logan was very impressed; she didn't seen to be showing any signs of being drunk.  
  
The green shaded lights of the bar cast dim shadow, giving the bar a mysterious look. The bar itself wasn't any thing special, really a dime a dozen, but Polaris was glad to have gotten out of the institute for a while, even if no one else but the bartender was in the bar, and HE wasn't even there most of the time, he'd just walk into the EMPLYOEE'S ONLY room.  
  
Logan was actually enjoying her company, she hadn't said much outside of commenting on the bar's lousy service, and that was good, when people chattered away about stupid trivial things it tended to give him a headache.  
  
A draft came in through the bar's open door, and Logan caught a sent on the air. His head jerked up and he looked behind his shoulder, growling he turned around to Polaris, who was looking at him inquisitively, the people were too far away for her to see or hear. "We've got company." He snarled, his claws extending.  
  
"Got it covered." Polaris said nonchalantly. The door slammed shut and the handle bed so no one could turn it, and Polaris slide off of the barstool. "I've gotta go to the bathroom. They won't be through that door for a while so you should be alright for the time being."  
  
Logan stopped for a moment, retracted his claws, and then turned to finish his drink, no use bothering with anything now. He didn't hear the door open, nor did he hear the footsteps.  
  
"Excuse me young man." An icy voice said from behind him, "But I'm looking for someone, could you please tell me where I might find one Elaine Black?"  
  
Logan turned around, and came face to face with one of the most intimidating people he'd ever seen, but of course he didn't let it show. The man had a face etched with scars that would have curdled new milk, long straggly white hair fell around his face from under his bowler hat, his eyes--both sharp and piercing, were two different colors one blue and the other green--were under a mantle of bushy white eyebrows.  
  
He looked like a aristocratic man, his black over coat coming down to mid- shin was lined with fur at the collars of both wrists the neck, the v-cut neck and the bottom hem and had six big buttons going down it.  
  
He took a step forward towards Logan using his wooden walking cane as leverage. Logan got up and faced him, "I don't see how it is any of your business."  
  
The man lifted his cane and pushed Logan's chin up, "And we don't see how it is any of yours." The man said, advancing his cane still pressed firmly to Logan's chin.  
  
"We, bub? I only see one of ya' what's the matter going senile in your old age?" He extended his claws once more and was getting ready to slice the old man's cane in half, when he was lifted off his feet, when two strong arms hooked under his arm pits.  
  
"Boo." Said a playful female voice. A face lowered in front of his, and he saw it was a furry mutant; she had electric blue fur that covered all the skin he could see, shocking orange normal hair hung low as the smiling face of the woman looked at him. Through the smile Logan could see the unnaturally long, sharp canines. Two pointed ears peeked out of the orange hair. The face of the woman, he couldn't help but notice, was cute if not beautiful, a button nose, and almond shaped eyes.  
  
"Uncle A.?!" The shocked voice f Polaris came from behind him. "March?!? Put him down!"  
  
Suddenly he was dropped as the woman-March-let go of him, back flipped off the beam she was holding onto with her feet and picked Polaris up in a tight hug. "Polly! You're all right! No evil death has befallen you!" She squealed.  
  
"Mar! You're back!" Polaris hugged the beast-woman back. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"We came here to rescue you from a fate worse then death!" March declared.  
  
"But there is no fate worse than death, at least not here anyway." She looked quickly to her Uncle who still had his cane pressed to Logan chin. "Uncle A.! Stop that!"  
  
"Ah, Elaine, It's so good to see you again!" the man took the cane away and turned to face her., she promptly launched herself onto him in a hug. He looked shocked at first, then his face softened and he returned the hug.  
  
"What are you two doing here?" Polaris asked pulling away from here?" She asked pulling away from him.  
  
"It is a long story. I think you should take us to your new residence to discuss it." He said and walked out the door.  
  
Polaris shrugged helpless, once he wanted to do something, he'd do it, and followed him. Logan and March followed them.  
  
When they had gotten out of the bar, March leaned over to Polaris, "Polly, who's the rugged looking fellow?" She asked.  
  
"Oh yes introductions. Uncle A., March, this Logan, one of my fellow instructors at the Xavier Institute." She said hastily.  
  
Archimedes turned around, "Ah yes, I am Archimedes Black, Polaris's Great Uncle." He held out his hand, when Logan did not take it he placed it on his cane. "I'm sorry for the unpleasantness earlier." When he got a grunt for his answer he walked to his car, and beaconed March to follow, she grinned suggestively at Polaris and her eyes darted to Logan before she followed.  
  
**At the mansion**  
  
Polaris hopped off of the bike, she took off the helmet, set it in her place on the bike, and ran towards the mansion door, as the old car pulled up into the garage. It was obvious to Logan that these two people were important to Polaris, he'd never seen her this excited. He was angry about the way they'd been introduced, but if these people meant this much to her, he'd tolerate them for now.  
  
She helped her Uncle out of the car, and turned to open March's door, but she was already on her way to the mansion, her curiosity getting the better of her. Logan hurried over to them and they caught up with her.  
  
"Well Uncle A. this is where I live." She flung open the door the hall was full of the students, bustling about some coming from the training room, some coiming to and from the kitchen for snack or dinner. Some waved at Logan and Polaris as they came in, Kurt 'bamfed' over to them.  
  
"Guten Tag!" He said cheerfully waving at Polaris and Logan, and then he registered the guests or more specifically March. "AH! Anothzer blue fuzzy one! I'm lozing ze enterprise!" He exclaimed in mock aghast and he 'bamfed' away.  
  
Logan noticed for the first time that March was wearing a black T-shirt with 'Youkai' written on it. (Translation: Demon) She was also wearing a pair of normal jeans that had been cut off at the knee to accommodate her beast like legs.  
  
March laughed to herself, "He has no idea!"  
  
Polaris grinned knowingly back at her laughing at a joke only they got. "That was Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler, he is one of the students here."  
  
A slight whirring sound directed their attention to the stairs; the Professor and Hank came out of the double doors. March looked at Hank and then dashed towards the stairs, catching hold of the railing she swung herself up, to come face to face with him, she crouched down on the railing, monkey-like, just as the Professor was saying,  
  
"Ah yes we've been expecting you."  
  
"You have, what are you physic, wait don't answer that." March said eyeing Hank; she always liked to inspect fellow beast-like mutants.  
  
Hank surprised by her sudden appearance fell back a step. "Who-who are you?" He stammered.  
  
"Hello Charles!" Polaris said coming up the stairs with Logan and her uncle.  
  
"I am March Black." She said not taking her eyes from him. "What's the matter, haven't you ever seen another beast mutate?"  
  
"Um no." He said somewhat sheepishly.  
  
"Well it's actually a fairly common mutation really. I'm surprised that you haven't seen any others." She smiled and back flipped off of the railing to land behind Archimedes.  
  
"Charles, these are my relations Uncle Archimedes," He tipped his bowler hat at him. "And March." She smiled happily and waved, mostly at Hank.  
  
A/N: The insanity! AH! THIS MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT!!! IF YOU CAN GUESS 1 OF THE 2 PEOPLE UNCLE ARCHEMIDESE IS BASED OFF OF THEN YOU GET A WALK ON IN MY STORY! REVIEW!! 


	8. Fools rush in where angles fear to tread

Lone Star  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any hoopla....umm **checks script** never mind. But I did come very close to owning Logan, Kurt and Gambit, but for reasons beyond my own (David Bowie's extremely tight pants in that movie the Labyrinth) I lost them.  
  
A/N: Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner, well two and since I got the reviews at the same time they both get a walk on! Your two winners are Ava and SpasticSkitzo! As soon as either one of them reply to my e-mail then they get to walk on. And I'd like to send a shout out to:  
  
Stephanie: Thanks for the review and sorry your computer is more than a little crazy-fied  
  
UberNekoChan: Yes insanity is fun ^__^.  
  
Ava: Right on the mark.  
  
Risty: If you think that's funny imagine how he must have been in high school.  
  
Norma: I'm sorry but I don't know who cable is. -_-; **feels retarded**  
  
NeoStar: Yeah that's true, but sorry no it's not him, but I'm glad you picked up on the **SPOILER** March and Beast thing.  
  
SpasticSkitzo: Goodie your split personality reviewed with you!  
  
Ok and for all those sitting on the edges of your seats the two people Uncle A. is based off of is Mad-Eye Moody (See: Harry Potter series books 4 & 5.) and Uncle Aloysius (See: The Courtney Crumrin series.)  
  
Chapter eight, Fools rush in where angles fear to tread.  
  
**In the Brother Hood's 'base'**  
  
Pietro ran as fast as his legs would carry him back to the Brotherhood's house-which was considerably fast-he'd just gotten new orders from his father, who'd told him that if they succeeded he'd send someone else to lead the brotherhood, and that was an opportunity he just couldn't pass up.  
  
As he reached the thoroughly dilapidated building he could hear a bang a scream and a small explosion, which meant Toad had done something stupid to upset Wanda and she was retaliating.  
  
He raced through the door and placed himself between Toad and Wanda, his arms outstretched. "Not now Wanda!" He said hastily "the boys and I got business to take care of." He raced out of the room, realized he'd forgotten something, and raced back grabbed Toad, "Come on Toad." and raced out, leaving a confused Wanda behind.  
  
After a few minutes and a few curses about them being 'slowpokes' from Pietro, everyone was front and center in the living room-if you could call it that-except for Wanda, she still refused to have anything to do with their missions, but Magneto felt she might one day she'd get over it.  
  
"Alright you bunch of maggots!" Pietro began in his best military drill voice. "I just got word from Maggs (Magneto) and we got a new mission."  
  
"Yeah what is it?" Lance interrupted.  
  
Pietro sighed theatrically, "I was just getting to that. I'm sure you all know that new teacher at Xavier's place, right?"  
  
"Yeah she's a babe, yo, but what's that got to do with anything?" Toad asked hopping up and down as he watched a particularly juicy looking fly go by him.  
  
"It's got-Ew Toad could you do that someplace else?"  
  
"A growing Toad's gotta eat yo."  
  
"Ergh! Any way, she's our target, we've gotta either put her out of commission or capture her long enough for Maggs to come and get her."  
  
Blob looked up from the sandwich he was holding, "But how are we gonna get at her, we can't get her while she's in Xavier's place."  
  
Pietro blinked at him for a moment (O_O) and then pulled himself together. "She goes out on Thursday nights to the local book store/café she's usually there for about two hours, she'll leave the institute at ten and come back around midnight, and she always goes alone. The plan is we get her before she gets to the bookstore, that way we'll have two hours before she's missed. You got all that?"  
  
There was a long pause and then everyone nodded.  
  
"Good, I'm gonna go scope out her normal route, I'm taking no chances." And with that he was gone.  
  
**At the Institute later that night.**  
  
"Logan...why...do...you...have...so....stubborn?" Each word was emphasized with a trial by error punch.  
  
The two were spring, no powers allowed, in the training room. Logan had on his karate GI and Polaris had on a sports top and shorts. The room they were in was styled almost like a Japanese house, rice paper wall covering was on every wall, a small clock hung on one corner and the floor was covered in mats.  
  
"Because, Black, I'm not going to that book store with you." He swung a her head but she ducked it, and took a low swing at his legs, he jumped it and tried to come down of her back, she looked up in time to roll out of the way. After Logan landed he looked around trying to find her, then he went flying into the wall, she'd used around off while his back was turned.  
  
"Why not?" She asked getting up, she walked forward and held out a hand for him, he shrugged it off and got up himself.  
  
"Because I don't want to, that good enough for you?" He grabbed a towel lying on the floor and wiped the sweat off his face.  
  
"No. I get so bored going there alone."  
  
"Why not ask one of the kid's to go with you?"  
  
"It's a school night."  
  
"March?"  
  
"Helping Hank in his labs."  
  
"Your uncle?" He was getting desperate.  
  
"Talking with Xavier. Look there no one to come with me, please Logan?"  
  
"No." He said finally and walked out.  
  
Polaris glared at the door he'd just walked out of, "JERK!" she yelled angrily.  
  
"I know, and none of your sweet talkin' is gonna change my mind, darlin'." Came his gruff relpy.  
  
Polaris sank to the floor and sulked for a moment, and she felt every bit as she was alone in the world. She heard the telltale ring of the clock on the wall, it was nine o'clock she had an hour to take a shower and get ready. She dragged herself up and stomped out of the room towards the bathroom.  
  
**An hour and ten minutes later**  
  
Polaris trudged along through the construction lot; it was a short cut she'd discovered the second week she'd been here. The Thursday's trip to the local book store/café had become a sort of tradition with her. Something she could look forward to, nothing was ever disappointing about a smoothie and a book.  
  
She glanced around at the steal beams that made up the skeleton like frame of the soon to be building. She thought to herself how easy it would be just to simply tear down the entire thing, but she wouldn't she'd learned enough control not to do that.  
  
When she looked at the frame she saw one particular beam that was leaning precariously off the side. She raised her hand and the beam stopped tilting, it lifted itself and floated to its place, molding itself to the side, she smiled to herself happy she'd help if only a little.  
  
A soft clank made her look to the right. The can that had been knocked off a rafter a few floors up froze as it fell. She trundled up to the can and inspected it, she'd stopped it so it as about eye level, nothing odd or special about it. She looked up and saw a shadow leap down behind her. The can dropped as she lost her concentration. She saw that a kid was standing behind her. He looked to be in his teens. He was wearing one of the strangest outfits (not that she was big on fashion) she'd ever seen.  
  
"Hey there kid, what are you doing out so late?" She asked looking down at him, he was crouched in an odd position, like a frog or a toad or something.  
  
"I'm lookin' for someone."  
  
"Really, who, I'm new here but maybe I can help you," The kid made a small hop and stood up. "So who are you looking for?"  
  
"You, yo." He spat a green slime in her face.  
  
Polaris stumbled backwards and fell over, she couldn't see, she could hardly see. Suddenly the ground left her and she felt a strong-arm wrap around her and something soft was pressed into her abdomen. Someone's picked me up! She thought.  
  
She wiggled her arms to wipe the slime off of her face as the shoulder she knew she was resting on thudded as the person holding her took one step after another. Yuck, was the only thing that came to mind, she wipe the slime off of the back of her hand onto the black t-shirt she was wearing. She blinked a few time and the world came back into focus. She was lying across the shoulder of the biggest kid-no person she'd ever seen. The Toad kid would spit at her was hopping behind him, along with two other kid's she'd never seen, one had white hair and was wearing what looked like a professional biker outfit with metal shoulder pads, come to think of it, all the kid's except for the one carrying her had metal on their costumes, this was her lucky day.  
  
The Toad kid stopped mid hop and was frozen in the air. "What's going on?!" he asked.  
  
The kid with the white hair looked up with dawning realization. "It's her power! Blob knock her out!" He yelled waving his hands in the air trying to get Blob's attention even though his back was turned.  
  
Not that it mattered anyway. Polaris wiggled free, she managed to get her feet braced against his shoulders, she curled her legs into the right position tensed, and pushed off, she sailed over the heads of the kid's and turned to face them.  
  
"Ok kids who sent you?" She demanded raising her arms, ready to use her power if necessarily.  
  
The moonlight, or lack there of considering it wasn't a full moon, outlined the building, luckily all of the kids had their backs turned to the building so they didn't see the five steel beams float quietly behind them, as they began their advance on her.  
  
The one kid that looked like he had a fruit bowl on his head turned to glared at her, he snarled, his eyes rolled back into his head and he stomped. The ground shook. Polaris stumbled back almost loosing her concentration as she did, but not quite.  
  
"Ok kid, you've can cause earthquakes, but my guess is you have to be on the ground to do it." She raised her hands and the boy was levitated off the ground, he struggled for a few moments then stopped and rested in the air beside Toad.  
  
The other boy in the bike suit disappeared, no not disappeared, she tracked the metal on his body, he was running, only very fast, then suddenly he was out of her range he'd turned tail!  
  
The Blob boy turned to run at her but was caught as three of the metal beams molded together and wrapped themselves around him, he was dragged back kicking and howling like a trapped animal.  
  
"This is no way to fight!" He howled as he was pinned to the frame of the building the other two floated over and two more beams were used to pin them down, they continued to struggle yelling and kicking, but she didn't pay that any attention.  
  
"I don't fight kids." She clarified. "Now, tell me who sent you!"  
  
A clapping sound came suddenly, and she whipped around to look for its source. A lone figure melted out of the shadow and stepped into the dim moonlight. He was wearing a long trench coat she couldn't really see the clothing under it. He was handsome there was no lie to that; he looked to be her age or a year younger. His eyes though they seemed funny she couldn't really tell in the dim lighting, but oddly enough he was clapping.  
  
"Bonjour and good going, chere, you beet these band of lozers with out breaking a sweat." There were yells of protest from the kids at that remark, but at that point neither of them were paying any attention.  
  
As he approached her she saw what was wrong with his eyes, the whites of his eyes were black and his pupils, iris and all was red.  
  
"I take it your not with them?" She asked looking at him skeptically.  
  
"Not socially I assure you, but we share a common bond." He said glaring at the trapped teens.  
  
"What are you babbling about?" She was prepared for anything now, this man wasn't a kid, she'd fight him if she needed to, something about the way he talked turned on the warning system everyone has to let the know their in bad company.  
  
"I am here, chere, to extend a formal innovation." He mockingly bowed at her. "From Magneto."  
  
Polaris snarled at him ready to pounce, if these guys were from Magneto that meant they were trouble. "What for?" she managed to get out through her clenched teeth.  
  
"To join us."  
  
"What this band of rag tag kids?" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the three kids pinned and struggling to the building.  
  
"No he wants you in the inner circle, and this is and offer you should turn down." His voice let her know everything he meant although he didn't say it.  
  
"Is that a threat?" She raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms in her best Logan pose.  
  
"Maybe." He said grinning.  
  
"Threat or not--?" She trailed off realizing she hadn't gotten his name.  
  
"Gambit." He said.  
  
"Well then, threat or not Gambit, my answer is the same as it was with Victor, or I suppose that's Sabertooth to you?" Gambit nodded. "That answer still stands 'no.' Now if you'll excuse me, I was on my was to get a cappuccino and the third book to a series I've been reading." She walked past but Gambit lifted a pole so that it barred her way.  
  
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that shuga." He turned his head to look at her and smiled, the rest of his body still faced forward. "The same goes for me as it did Sabertooth, I'm to bring you to the boss willing or not, nothing personal mon ami."  
  
The pole bent back till it looked like a U. "Well I'm not willing, amigo." She said, and Gambit went flying, or more specifically his metal pole went flying and he didn't let go, when he realized that it was turning on him so that he'd be pinned to the building just like the others, he let of and did a back hand spring as it swept the ground trying to trip him.  
  
"Wrong move chere." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, holding each of them for a brief second before they caught fire and he threw them.  
  
It didn't take her long to realize that they exploded. She bolted running as fast as she could, jumping and dodging frantically, she could feel the heat on the back of her neck. She fought with ever ounce of self- control she had not to start running in a panic, but to plan everyone of he footsteps.  
  
Man I thought there were only 52 cards in a deck! Her mind scream at her, she took a flying leap as one of the cards exploded near her feet. She knew he wasn't aiming to kill her, just to knock her out, at least, that is, if he could.  
  
She reached out with her power and brought down as many metal beams as she could, Gambit looked around frantically at them as they flew at him from all sides, they bent and molded unnatural until they cocooned him in.  
  
Polaris then realized how horribly out of practice she was with using her powers to fight, she really out to get back in the game so to speak, and judging by the redness the metal of the beams was taking on, she would be.  
  
The 'cocoon' erupted like a volcano, metal flew everywhere, the blinding flash caused by the explosion left Polaris's eyes out for a moment, and unfortunately in that one moment of weakness a slab of metal flew straight at her.  
  
Her eye site came back just long enough for her to screw them back shut and the site of the heated metal only a few feet from her, there was no way she could stop it. She threw up her arms in an X trying in vain to shield herself, and she braced herself for the impact. It never came.  
  
She tentatively opened her eye to see what had happened, she had to be dead. Right? There was no way she could have survived that. But she had.  
  
As she opened her eyes she saw Logan standing in front of her his claws out and in full rage. He was wearing one of the weirdest costumes she'd ever seen, but that didn't matter, all that mattered was that he was here. Glancing down she saw scrapes of metal that had been sliced up. So that was it, he'd saved her, a second time.  
  
Polaris quickly regrouped her thoughts and raised her arms, all the metal with in a ten-foot radices lifted and pointed at Gambit. She saw that the kids had managed to get free and were nowhere in site, just as well.  
  
"Ok bub, whaddya want with Black?"  
  
"Her in general." Gambit said backing away he seemed to realize he was out matched.  
  
"Well your gonna have to get through me!" He snarled advancing on him.  
  
"Oh don't' worry I have every intention to, but not now. And until then here's my calling card and " And with that he pulled ne more card out of his pocket and held it a little longer than he had the others before throwing it, right at the two.  
  
Before they could blink the card exploded causing the whole building to collapse on them. Polaris hardly had time to think before Logan knocked her to the ground as he put his body between her and the debris that rained down on them it only took a moment before they were buried beneath them.  
  
Logan's body created a small air pocket for them, she was lying flat on her back and he was on all fours on top of her, had this been any other situation Polaris would have laughed at the thought of her being in such an awkward position, but now was not the time for laughs they'd been here less than a minute and already they were running out of air.  
  
"Can you-argh-get us outta here Black?" Logan grunted straining with the humongous weight on his back. It was then that Polaris realized that he was holding up the entire thing himself, it wasn't for him, she'd have been crushed. That's three times, god almighty how am I going to make this up to him.  
  
"Hold on she said." She wrapped her arms around Logan's neck and heaved with every ounce of energy she had. The pile of debris scattered like paper caught in a wind, flying everywhere, if anyone had been watching they would have seen Polaris and Logan flying out of the explosion unharmed, locked in what looked suspiciously like a hug.  
  
Polaris flew them over, clinging tight to Logan making sure she wouldn't fall she took them a good distance from the site so that there would be none to place the blame on. It would of course be blamed on mutants as a whole, but that didn't matter.  
  
They landed in a small park about a mile from the institute she'd managed to get them that far before she felt she'd drop them both out of exhaustion. Her land was not at all graceful she simple dropped both of them, unfortunately on a hill. Logan dropped like a dead weight, but Polaris possessing no adamantium skeleton tumbled head over heals to the bottom.  
  
After her little tumble and cursing she got up and trudged up the hill wiping the grass and some dew off her. When she reached the top of the hill she found Logan, she'd expected that much, but he wasn't breathing.  
  
She sprinted up the rest of the distance her muscles screaming at the strain. When she got to him she dropped to the ground. "Logan?" she asked nudging him a little. "Logan!" she practically pushed him down the hill. She grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse there was a slight throb but it was growing more and more faint. She checked his neck it was the same.  
  
He was alive, for now, but there was no telltale rise and fall of the chest to indicate any breathing. Her mind was racing what to do what to do, the Heimlich, no that was for choking what was for not breathing, CPR! That's right, ok her mind continued to race, she'd taken a class on this once, what to do, tilt the head back to that the throat is aligned, pinch the nose, she had to pull his hood back for that, breath one two three four five six, then six more chest compressions.  
  
She did this two time before Logan woke up, though she didn't notice, she was somewhere at on three while breathing, when she realized Logan was kissing her. She jerked her head back and he smirked up at her.  
  
"You started it." Logan said cockily.  
  
"Did not I was doing CPR you stopped breathing." She tried to sound as indignant as possible while trying her hardest not to turn red.  
  
Logan sat up running and ran a hand through his hair, "You know I have a heightened healing factor."  
  
Polaris turned to face him satisfied that her face was not too red. "I forgot!" she yelled and stood up, preparing to march straight back to the institute.  
  
Logan stood up a second after she had. "Are you sure?"  
  
"JERK!" she yelled angrily.  
  
"I know, and none of your sweet talkin' is gonna change my mind, darlin'." He said and kissed her again.  
  
For once they both felt like maybe, just maybe, they weren't so lonely after all.  
  
A/N: R&R! I think I'm terrible at romance scenes so please don't kill me. **Hides from angry mob** 


	9. One curly fry in a box full of regulars

Lone Star  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.  
  
Author: Are you sure?  
  
Disclaimer: Yes.  
  
Author: **Sigh** Alrighty  
  
A/N: Ok I'd like to send a shout out my two faithful reviewers:  
  
UNC: Thanks whew that was a pesky angry mob **Come out of closet....NO! Not that way.**  
  
SpasticSkitzo: Your character will not appear for probably 2 more chapters but it will be well worth the wait I promise!  
  
Chapter nine, One curly fry in a box full of regulars  
  
"Can you hand me that vial?" Beast asked not taking his eyes off the microscope. He could hardly believe how easy this was going with someone to help him. The experiment he'd been working on for some time now was going perfectly well, no explosions of any kind.  
  
He had mentioned his experiment to March after it had exploded for a second time, and she had been more than willing to help him. She'd even gone through his process and found a few things that may be wrong with it. They'd been trying by trial by error all day, and so far so good.  
  
"Yes el doctor" March chirped in a fake German accent, she rifled through some beakers and vials until she found her prize, carefully she picked it up and walked towards him. "Here you go." She said and handed it to him.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
He held up the vial and mechanically dropped two drops into the 'concoction' as March had called it. BOOM. The 'concoction' exploded and took the front half of the room with it.  
  
March and Hank were thrown to the back wall by the force of the explosion alone. March grabbed a shelf and sung herself onto it. Hank however hit the wall full force, unfortunately causing the self March had found her perch on to fall. Books and other assortments rained down onto them.  
  
As soon as they had gotten themselves together they got up brushing off plaster that had fallen from the roof.  
  
"Are you alright?" Hank asked in between coughs.  
  
March rubbed the back of her neck and continued to brush herself off. "As well as one can be. It's going to take forever to get this plaster out of my fur." She complained. "Are you ok?" She asked.  
  
Hank nodded. She was worried about plaster in her fur, but come to think about it, that was a pest, getting dirty when you had hair covering your body.  
  
March ran a hand through her orange hair and coughed once or twice. "So, tell me again why you want to reverse your mutation process?" She asked surveying the rubble that was now his lab.  
  
Hank sighed, that was indeed what he was working on. "Because I want to live a normal life, I want to go back to teaching."  
  
March stopped dead in her tracks and rounded on him. "And I haven't lead a normal life!"  
  
"I didn't mean it like that." Beast yelped realizing that he'd forgotten she'd been a beast mutant longer than he had. "It's just that I-I could hurt someone. I've almost done it a few times already, I almost killed Evan back when I first transformed. I'm just too dangerous." He babbled trying to explain it as best he could.  
  
With out warning March leapt forward and slammed her fist through the wall just above his head. "And I'm not?" She snarled. "There are plenty of others out there like us, and I grantee you they've all found a way to cope with it. I've been living with Laney and Uncle A. since I was eleven because I look like this!" She gestured to her fur covered body, when she continued she was almost shouting. "I've been perfectly happy about it. Even though I had to be home schooled, while Laney went to public high school and I didn't understand why, even though I never got to experience a normal teenage life. I got through with it; I've accepted my life. You should count your blessings!" She spun on her heel and stomped out her white lab coat billowing out from behind her.  
  
Hank paused for a moment soaking up what she had just told or rather yelled at him, before racing out to talk to her. "March wait!" He yelled and she stopped she turned around and to his own puzzlement she was smiling.  
  
"I'm sorry I yelled at you." She said apologetically. "I didn't mean it."  
  
"I hope you did." Hank said looking at the sad smile on her face. "I understand it's just that I lived a normal life for so long, and I loved teaching the kid's. I thought I had it all figured out, and then the moment I thought it was all right, the moment I took it for granted it was gone." He sighed. "I just wish I could go back to that."  
  
"We all do Hank. But you've got to take the cards life deals you. There are more like you and me out there and more of them have come out since the mutants were reviled, you just have to know were to look." She tapped her nose knowingly and walked off. "And soon you will, Hank. Soon you will."  
  
A/N: Shamefully short! Sorry! R&R! 


	10. Oldies but goodies

Lone Star  
  
Disclaimer: Oh I wish I were in the land of cotton old time there, unlike this disclaimer, are not forgotten.  
  
A/N: Another awfully short chapter I'm afraid. I promise everyone that the next one will be longer but like I've heard the short ones keep the story moving. I'd like to send a shout out to:  
  
UNC: Spider-man, Spider-man, swings around on a frying pan.  
  
Neostar: March's mutation is just like Beast's she got hairy and strong, to put it short. Please don't let the puppy eat me! EEK!  
  
TheWolf: Thank you, I haven't seen you before, please keep reading and reviewing. ^_^  
  
Raven: O_O;;; No we wouldn't want that, but don't worry I'll be updating ASAP. My school starts in about 2 weeks so in that time I'll be updating a bit more slowly but I'll still be updating.  
  
Chapter ten, Oldies but goodies  
  
Archimedes Black was not one to be trifled with. Anyone who had ever encountered him for the briefest moment could tell you that. He had a sharp mind and body despite his obvious age, and he had power to be reckoned with.  
  
His power was that of protection. In any normal situation he would seem to be nothing more than a normal old man, but the minute anyone was in danger, himself included, his powers swung into action, it wasn't anything in particular it could be any power from TK to healing, anything at all, he could only use one power at a time though, the only problem with it was the more he used his power the weaker he got, in his younger days that really wasn't that much of a problem but now....let's just say his age was catching up with him.  
  
"So, tell me about this town of yours." Xavier said folding h fingers as he brought his wheel chair to a stop.  
  
They'd taken a walk this morning, not that big of a deal really especially since it was such a lovely morning. Really quite picture esc, the sun filtered gently out of the leaves in the sparse trees that populated the grounds of the institute causing the fading shadows to dance as the sun reached it zenith. But the two men couldn't be bothered with the scenery at that moment. They had business to discuss.  
  
"Yes. Though it isn't really my town, rather my land." Archimedes began thinking how he should phrase it as eloquently as possible. "The Turning Point, they've begun to call it. To the casual observer my land would appear to be no more that five or ten acres of field, but then the area the town was created in can't be seen by those who aren't looking for it." He smiled the wrinkles and scars on his face disappearing under the familiar expression.  
  
Xavier mulled this over for a moment, "Really, how so?" He asked stumped for an answer.  
  
"Well were the town itself is was created for me by an old partner of mine with one of the most interesting powers I've ever come across. He had the power to create a pocket dimension, and at my request he created one for me." He paused for a moment to think something over, "If you were to look at it on a map," He continued. "You would see a square roughly two hundred miles long and two hundred miles wide. Every mutant who lives on my land had contributed to its making in some way or another. For instance one mutant created a wild forest, another brought in animals to populate it. One created a small mountain and one created a lake and small ocean and still another insures that in rains regularly to keep everything in balance. Some grow their own food while other commune with the city. Our town function like almost any other town, we have a jail and a court house, a local grocery store." He spread his arms out recalling the small world away from the world he had helped create, "Everything that would ensure our very survival is there."  
  
"Sounds like paradise." Xavier mused. He thought ideally this was almost like the middle verse the boy Forge had created.  
  
"There are its down falls, you see our local 'weather witch' did you call that one woman who works here?" Xavier nodded and he continued, "Makes sure that everything balances with the weather on the outside. We have no natural recourses, everything must be replenished systematically and getting in and out of our home requires time and diversions, especially when people must make trips to a gas station." He chuckled. "Sometimes I think it is more trouble than it's worth. But then I see mutants who are affected on the outside, and I know they have a good life here. Some of them have left to find a place in the outside world but others are just not ready for that step yet."  
  
Xavier nodded and then the two men were off in conversation, but both were thinking of their loved ones, and how it was true that some of them just weren't ready.  
  
A/N: Review or DEATH! AH! 


	11. Thick as thieves, suckah!

Lone Star  
  
Disclaimer: Whoopla!  
  
A/N: All right this isn't as long as I would have liked, but still....I'd like to send a shout out to:  
  
TheWolf: You got it!  
  
UNC: And stuff....  
  
SpasticSkitzo: I wish mine was too my house is full of crazy people! GAH!  
  
Risty: Bad people of course, you silly goose, you. J/K.  
  
Stephanie: Aw, I'm so happy for them too. They're such late bloomers! LOL!  
  
Lladyred01: Ya'll should check out this chick's story, 5 aces in a deck, or else!  
  
I'm also including a better description of March at the request of one of my reviews.  
  
Chapter eleven, Thick as thieves, suckah!  
  
The plan was in place; Xavier and Archimedes had planned, critiqued and re-planned. All that was left was to gather everyone together, which was proving harder than they--for all their planning-had planned.  
  
Gathering some of the kids was easy enough, Rouge almost never left, Amanda was visiting her grandparents in Iowa so Kurt was sulking around, Jean and Scott were washing their cars, Kitty was swimming and trying her hardest to phase through the water so she could stay under longer, so far no luck, and unfortunately all the other were lost somewhere.  
  
Xavier had sent Storm to gather up the strays that were teeming about the city, and asked Hank to find hunt down the ones running around the mansion, including March, Logan, and Polaris.  
  
***  
  
Hank grumbled as he stalked through the mansion he'd found almost everyone except for Kurt, Kitty and March. He'd been meaning to talk to her since yesterday but unfortunately she'd eluded him all day. He wasn't sure if she was mad at him or not. She has every right to be, a sadistic voice said somewhere in the back of his head. After the way you went on about: Oh I don't want to be a mutant anymore, without the slightest thought that she was a beast too. Hank came outside and walked around the grounds; the sadistic voice still grumbling in his head. Will you be quiet! The more dominant voice said. The sadistic voice retreated. Hank continued to walk looking for the kids, and asking himself is having a fight with the voices in your head was indeed one of the first signs of insanity.  
  
He rounded the east corner of the mansion and came up to the pool, looking around he didn't see anyone, but he heard the sound of water moving. He glanced down into the pool, and then he saw Kitty down at the deep end down near the bottom. The sunlight came streaming onto her small body, through the ripples her body looked malformed. She was lying with her eyes closed, and didn't look like she was coming up anytime soon.  
  
Sighing he crouched down he grabbed the edge of the pool and leaned in, he reached Kitty and gently tapped her. Her eyes popped open and she opened her mouth in surprise. Unfortunately she lost all her air while doing this. She quickly pushed off the bottom of the pool and erupted at the surface causing water to splash the area around her. Beast sighed and pushed the wet fur out of his face.  
  
"Like why," She spit out a mouth full of water and pulled herself out of the pool. "Did you do that?" she grabbed a towel and began to dry herself her off.  
  
Hank shook himself off causing Kitty to shriek as more water hit her, "because the professor is gathering everyone for a meeting. He says to see him in his office as soon as you can be there."  
  
"Ok." Kitty wrapped the towel around herself and began to leave, but Beast remembered something and turned around just before she got out of ear shot.  
  
"Kitty do you know where Kurt or March are?"  
  
"Yeah, like, they went to the garden I think." She waved and pointed her hand in the general direction of the garden. Hank nodded.  
  
"Thanks Kitty!"  
  
"Like, no problem!" She left retreating to the mansion to get a change of dry clothes.  
  
Hank sighed and began walking again, he was almost dry now, he really hadn't gotten all that wet. Today was just a bad day that was all, the world was not out to get him, it was just a bad day.  
  
He rounded one corner of the mansion that lead to the garden, and saw Kurt and March there laughing, as they sat on the carved stone bench. He paused for a moment and watched them. The only two others he'd seen like himself. Kurt's transformation was due to Magneto's experiments. March though, she had mutated much like he had. Her shocking blue fur covered all the skin he could see, and all of what he couldn't. She wore normal cloths like he did most of the time, except her pants were always cut right below the knee, and every shirt she wore had, demon, beast or monster, written in some language today it was Spanish Monstruo (Monster). He really could see the similarities between them, not in color but in the look o things. Her face seemed human, and beautiful only covered in fur, her hair much like his was long and a different color than the rest of the fur that covered their bodies, hers though was a bright neon orange, two blue fur covered pointed ears peeked out from the mess of hair. From her smile he could see her sharp pointed teeth. Her hands remand human except for the long claws that replaced normal fingernails.  
  
She suddenly turned and faced him, "Hello Hank! Come on over and sit with us." She smiled reviling her perfect sharp, white teeth, and waved at him.  
  
"Yeah, join ze furry party!" Kurt yelled happily.  
  
"How-" Hank began but March cut him off.  
  
"I could smell the wet fur from here." She said and tapped her nose. That was quickly becoming her trademark. "So what did you come here to tell us?"  
  
Hank shook his head. Did she know everything? "Xavier wants us all to meet in his office."  
  
March's eyes lit up. "I know what he wants! I knew Uncle A. had something like this planned!" Apparently she did. "Come on you two, you'll be so surprised I guarantee it."  
  
Hank turned and raised an eyebrow at Kurt who shrugged. "Come one." March whined and grabbed their hands tugging them like a three year old in a hurry to get an ice cream cone. Kurt laughed and got up.  
  
"I'll see you two in ze profezzer office." And with that and 'BAMF' he was gone.  
  
March blinked for a moment and then laughed, "I keep forgetting he can do that." She said. "Well come on just because he's gone doesn't mean you're off the hook. Let's go."  
  
She dragged him towards the mansion still holding his hand.  
  
Storm herded the last of the kids in. There were many grumbling coming form the kids. Polaris distinctly heard from one of the girls, Tabitha, pout 'And that shirt was on sale too.' And from one boy she'd been talking with recently Roberto Da Costa (Sunspot) she got 'Man and I was next in line. Man I'm hungry!'  
  
He walked over and sat next to her and Logan. Logan grunted and he twitched. Polaris laughed and looked at him sympathetically, he shrugged and tried to look as defiant as he could. He was so adorable, really. She had to admit when she was in high school; she would have jumped at the chance to 'go out' with a boy like this. Then she glanced at Logan and sighed. Oh well sometime the compromise was better, even if the boy was sweeter.  
  
Another boy Samuel came walking in with a girl, Amara. Sam was stumbling awkwardly beside her and both Polaris and March hid a smile. They'd both seen his awkwardness around girls and both found it absolutely adorable. Amara, now that she was one of the only girls left in the New Mutants, tended to try and make him as uncomfortable as possible. They couldn't blame the girl they both tried they're hardest to make their guys as uncomfortable as possible as well. Bobby came in just after them fiddling ideally with his ice powers.  
  
The last to come in was Ray, he was in full guy pout mode, and slouched against the far wall, distinctly near Tabitha it seemed.  
  
Across the room Xavier sat behind his desk and in the seat nearest to him, Archimedes sat. Finally seeing that everyone was finally in the room, he 'ahemed' loudly and every one gave him their undivided attention.  
  
"I suppose you are all wondering why I called you here?" He looked expectantly around the room. There were nods, smart comments, dramatic sighs and complaints heard all around. "I am aware that it is summer vacation for you all." There were more nods, smart comments, dramatic sighs and complaints. "There for I would like to propose a 'field trip' if you will." No one moved. Every other field trip the professor had ever proposed ended in disaster. "We will be going to a rather large town-" He continued the story and finally Archimedes took over to the students rapt attention, he explained the rules of the Point where they all would be staying, and any minor details Xavier had left out. Everyone in the room was excited to leave. They all wanted to see this new place, to meet these new mutants. It was a fascinating idea, a city of mostly all mutants. They couldn't wait.  
  
But unfortunately they'd have to. The ride was after all six hours.  
  
They left the next day and everyone was impatient to be off. Especially Polaris. It had been a year since she'd been to her home. Logan could tell she was anxious but he didn't say anything as they loaded the helicopter and Blackbird. He hadn't really said much to her at all in the last three days. He couldn't think of anything to say at all. Polaris didn't seem to notice. She really hadn't expected him to change much, so she wasn't pressing the issue.  
  
"That's the last bit." She declared and threw the last duffle bag into the cargo bay. "Lets move out!" She gave a whoop and jumped into the pilot seat of the helicopter.  
  
"I'm piloting Black." He said and got up beside her.  
  
"That's what you think." She said and started the engine; Logan jumped into the co-pilot seat and glared at her. "Don't worry I'll let you sit in the big boy seat on the way back."  
  
Logan growled and she laughed and turned to look at the few students in the back of the chopper March, Hank, Xavier and Archimedes were in the Blackbird, it was Logan, Roberto, Ray, Tabitha, Amara, and herself.  
  
She smiled at them and took off, flying fast into the horizon.  
  
A/N: Sounds like a western movie. R&R! 


End file.
